Mens Rea and Defences in European Criminal Law School of Human Rights Research

Jeroen Blomsma

"In the past decades, the process of European integration has influenced all fields of law, and eventually also criminal law. Whereas the creation and enforcement of criminal liability used to be purely a national matter, European legislation now requires member states to criminalize all sorts of harmful conduct. However, this legislation does not determine the full scope of criminal liability, omitting to define general principles of criminal law. For example, the Union refers to 'intention' in its legislation, but it has not determined what qualifies as such. As a result, what is criminal in one State may not be [so] in another, which runs counter to the goal of harmonization. This book aims to remedy this [disharmony] by establishing what mens rea and defences should look like in European criminal law"--Provided by publisher.