The operationalization of cosmopolitanism in criminological research with a specific focus on European detention conditions

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Transferring prisoners within the EU framework: its cosmopolitan reflections and existing European detention norms

A perverse side-effect of our interconnected world is that also crime crosses more and more borders. As a result, judicial cooperation in criminal matters is crucial before and after a criminal sentence. The increased global connectivity also gave rise to new paradigms in social sciences. As such, the paradigm of cosmopolitanism has been researched extensively in social sciences but has been largely neglected in criminology. By analyzing case law, European detention norms and EU legal instruments the submission critically evaluates cosmopolitanism in the area of EU judicial cooperation in criminal matters and more specifically to the transfer of prisoners. Cosmopolitanism is perfectly reflected in the mutual recognition principle as the cornerstone to develop the EU area of freedom, security and justice, based on notions of equivalence and trust. This principle is justified because every member state signed the European Convention of Human Rights and is a party of the EU Charter on Human Rights. On the other hand, reality revealed that mutual recognition is not absolute and mutual trust cannot be blind. An IRCP study, published in 2011, highlighted the various and often detrimental material prison conditions in different member states. These variances undermine the assumed mutual trust between member states although European detention norms - such as the European Prison Rules and CPT reports’ already exist. These norms aren’t legally binding and are still considered as “soft law”, simultaneously they gain importance due to increased reference in the ECtHR judgments. The cosmopolitan outlook by the member states related to the transfer of prisoners is in this submission highlighted as being both problematic and promising. Hereby it appears as if the EU rhetoric being a “unity in diversity”, by applying mutual recognition, is dominantly used to accommodate member states purposes rather than giving a central role to the individual

Cosmopolitan reflections in EU criminal policy and punishment

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Detention conditions in a cosmopolitan Europe

This dissertation provides an empirical analysis of the standard setting and policy-making processes at the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) in the area of detention conditions for prisoners and asylum seekers. In this way, the dissertation contributes to the emerging research area of European Criminology. The theory of cosmopolitanism is the theoretical framework that guides this dissertation. Cosmopolitanism entails a unity in diversity in which diversity is not a problem as long as certain common norms and standards are accepted. The research findings are based on a qualitative methodological approach: a literature review, a document analysis, and expert interviews with key policy-makers and external experts. To further narrow the scope of this dissertation, the following selected policy moments and outcomes are analysed. For the CoE: the European Prison Rules and the CPT recommendations regarding immigration detention; for the EU: the Green paper on detention and the recast Reception Conditions Directive. The analysed policy moments and outcomes are considered as reflections of the increasing unity in diversity in Europe regarding the issue of detention conditions for prisoners and asylum seekers. The theoretical framework of cosmopolitanism is operationalised by applying a policy and social network approach to the selected policy outcomes. By focusing on the actors involved and the relations between these actors, this provides us with increased insights into the standard setting and policy-making process at the European level and helps explain why this greater unity in Europe regarding the issue of detention conditions occurs. The research findings show that the topic of detention conditions in Europe is considered a very specialised area that involves only a limited number of active actors. Despite the limited number of actors, a solid block of common norms and values is present, such as the rule of law, the protection of human rights, and solidarity with the involved policy-makers and experts. This is important, because for cosmopolitanism to work, it has to be grounded on commonly accepted norms. While cosmopolitanism implies that national rhetoric is superseded, after digging deeper into the selected policy outcomes, it becomes evident that the priorities and considerations by the member states play an influential role in taking certain initiatives and driving a policy-making or standard setting process forward. The European Courts have an influential role in triggering policy change and give meaning to what is acceptable and what is considered substandard in Europe