Le Corpus Juris: Un Chantier Ouvert dans la Construction du Droit Penal Economique Europeen 1 European Journal of Law Reform 1999

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1 Eur. J.L. Reform 473 (1999)
Le Corpus Juris: Un Chantier Ouvert dans la Construction du Droit Penal Economique Europeen

handle is hein.journals/ejlr1 and id is 481 raw text is: Le Corpus Juris: Un Chantier Ouvert dans la
Construction du Droit Penal Economique
Europeen
Mireille Delmas-Marty* and Stefano Manacorda**
English Summary
This article by Delmas-Marty and Manacorda reports on and provides analysis of
another way in which the criminal law might respond to the challenges of
globalization. The (national) laws dealing with economic crime are increasingly
being criticized for their apparent lack of effectiveness and for the arbitrary
distinctions being made concerning one and the same type of behaviour, depending
on the national system. As it is contested domestically, the law on economic crime
turns international and - in particular - European.
Since 1990, the process of globalization can be summarized as a combination of
several factors: (a) the liberalization of the movement of factors of production,
goods, services, capital, and people; (b) a technological revolution, particularly in
transportation and communications; and in response (c) an unprecedented
internationalization of the strategic behaviour of multi-national firms. In this new
environment, the deficits of a purely national fight against (economic) crime are
becoming all too apparent. Therefore, the ultimate question to be answered is, how
should legal systems react to this challenge in order to be able to provide adequate
protection to national, international, and transnational interests, without becoming
tools at the service of ruthless economic or hegemonial interests?
The authors respond to this question by analysing whether regional integration, in
the EU in particular, with its inter- or supra-nationalization of law and sovereignty,
can provide some of the answers. Because of the great diversity of legal systems and
solutions found in Europe, they consider the EU as a testing ground, a laboratory,
for the development of a true 'common law', and ultimately for global solutions.
The primary stumbling blocks to overcome in the process of the harmonization of
* Professeur i l'Universit de Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne, Membre de l'Institut
Universitaire de France.
** Chercheur i l'Unit& Mixte de Recherche en Droit Compar6 de l'Universit6 de Paris.
European Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 1, No. 4
© Kluwer Law International 1999.