No abstract

Technically-speaking, penal law remains outside the competence of the European Communities and Union. However, mirroring other legal developments within Europe, a combination of higher Community 'principles' such as proportionality, non-discrimination, free competition and loyal co-operation, together with secondary Community law, has on the one hand, led to an unforeseen process of the harmonisation of national penal systems; with national norms either being set aside by Community law, or given extended scope in the pursuance of EC/EU goals. On the other hand, certain European interests -most notably, the need to safeguard the European Union budget -have proven strong enough to prompt the evolution of a nascent penal law of the EU; the most noteworthy development here being the drawing up of an independent European 'corpus juris' covering penal policy and procedure in the area of EU budget protection.

No abstract

No abstract

The concept of margin is at the very heart of legal Systems. The effect of internationalisation, or even globalisation of law, has been to introduce, as a consequence of the "national" margin of appreciation, both recognition of the diversity of legal Systems and possibility of a common law. This is why use of the comparative method is necessary. But the latter is insufficient, since it invites diversity without giving the key to a real legal pluralism, that is, ordered according to legal reasoning. Legal logic is helpful here, insofar as the concept of margin breaks with the traditional conception of the legal order as unified and hierarchical but not pluralistic. After a description of pluralism by juxtaposition, linked to the appea-rance of a national margin of appreciation (whether implied or express), the requirements for the logical validity of a real ordered pluralism (concept and functioning of the margin) will be considered.