Remand Detention in Europe. A comparative approach considering aspects of legal theory, criminology and European Law.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Christine Morgenstern
• Subject Area: Criminology ; Criminal Law
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 219315043

Remand or pre-trial detention is a means to secure the criminal process, but conflicts with the supects right to liberty and personal freedom and the presumption of innocence. While it, as a consequence, must be applied as a means of last resort, all European States make ample use of it, some of them excessively. In particular foreigners are affected. National and European human rights standards, however, should curtail this practice. The aims of this study are threefold: For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of all European standards and initiatives at the level of the Council of Europe as well as the European Union with regard to remand detention will be provided. Secondly, the law in books and the law in action as it concerns remand detention in six different European countries will be compiled and its degree of convergence with the European standards will be analysed. This will also be important for national criminal policy. Thirdly, the results of the study will provide insights in the level of "Europeanization" of the criminal procedure, whether the trans-border cooperation profits from these developments, and how the rights of individuals are affected .

• DFG Programme: Research Grants