News/Events

Sanctions - getting it right and getting it wrong, 13th October 2026 at 6:00-7:00

Tony Wilson — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:54:19 +0000

This seminar is online and free to attend but registration is required here

Speakers include Kevin Dent KC and Danielle Barden who were involved in a recent prosecution and James Clark of Quillon who succesfully challenged a designation.

A flyer is available here

The SFO and EU Cooperation on Fraud - Online 16th June 2026: 6:00-7:30

Tony Wilson — Tue, 19 May 2026 08:18:02 +0000

The European Criminal Law Association UK (ECLA UK) is pleased to host a timely and engaging seminar exploring the evolving role of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in international cooperation on fraud and corruption. This event will bring together practitioners, academics, and others with an interest in European criminal law for an informed and interactive discussion conducted under Chatham House Rules.

The session will examine the SFO’s current strategic priorities and its approach to tackling cross-border economic crime. It will focus on key developments in international cooperation, such as recent agreements with France’s Parquet National Financier (PNF) and the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, as well as the broader challenges and opportunities facing the SFO in a post-Brexit landscape.

Format: The seminar will take the form of a moderated discussion, with opportunities for audience questions

Attendance is free but registration is required here. A flyer for the event is available here

A recording of the session is available here

The re-emergence of the political offence exception in Extradition?

Tony Wilson — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 08:49:17 +0000

The seminar will be held online on Tuesday 28th April 2026. A flyer will be available here and register here

The Rule of Law in Crisis

Tony Wilson — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:49:28 +0000

Monday 2 March 2025, 5:30pm–7:00pm

This lecture explores the mounting pressures facing the rule of law in periods of profound political and constitutional stress. It examines how political antagonism fuels attacks on judicial independence, including attempts to delegitimise courts through accusations of partisan “lawfare.”

The session will also consider the expanding use of executive power—such as unwarranted pardons—and how such practices undermine accountability, ethical standards in public life, and long‑standing constitutional norms. Finally, it analyses the growing tendency of political actors to blur or distort concepts of sovereignty in order to evade scrutiny, and reflects on what these developments mean for the resilience of the rule of law in democratic societies.

Speaker Bio:

Sir Howard Morrison KC was the UK judge at both the United Nations International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia where he was a trial judge in the case of Radovan Karadzic and the International Criminal Court where he was President of the Appeals Division.

He is an honorary Professor of International Law at Warwick, Leicester and Northumbria Universities and a Senior Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at Cambridge University. Since leaving the ICC he was appointed the UK Independent Advisor to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and President of the Court of Appeal of the British Indian Ocean Territories. He trains counter-terrorism judges in the Middle East and is a law of armed conflict advisor at the Ministry of Defence.

Attendance

This event will be held in hybrid format.
You are warmly invited to join us in person in the Hogan Lovells Lecture Theatre, Palatine Centre Durham Law School, Stockton Road, Durham (room PCL048).

If you are unable to attend in person, you may join online via the following link:
Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

What is new in Extradition and Proceeds of Crime - 16th December at 5:00 pm

Tony Wilson — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 07:55:37 +0000

Attendence is free but please register here https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/75c6ae49-613c-43a6-bb1a-72839cdd58c3@7250d88b-4b68-4529-be44-d59a2d8a6f94

Speakers Danielle Barden and Rebecca Hill of 5 St Andrews Hill and His Honour Michael Hopmeier

A Flyer is available here

Interesting presentations were given by the Speakers. An update on the proposals to amend s20 Extradition Act 2003 and some of the key Extradition cases of 2025 may be found here.

In relation to Proceeds of Crime a number of organisations have produced reports and there have been three European Cases of note ( Koli, Sharma and Bagnall) which may be found here, here and here.

Developments in Fraud following the Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023

Tony Wilson — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:33:15 +0000

Online seminar Tuesday 23rd September 2025 between 5:00 and 6:00 pm UK time.

Attendance is free but you need to register here

A flyer for the event can be downloaded here

-

Tony Wilson — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 08:45:21 +0000

ECLA(UK) 2024 Annual General was held online on Monday 9th December 2024. The President's report is available here

Other News

Forthcoming Criminal Law events organised by the Academy of European Law here

The ECLAN Summer School was held in Brussels (and online) between 30 June to 4 July 2025. The program is available here.

ECLAN 2025 Annual Conference on "The Presumption of Innocence: Modern Trends and Contemporary Challenges", took place at the University of Latvia in Riga on 15-16 May 2025. Copies of the presentations are available on the conference website here

Now Available the latest edition of EUCRIM here

Published by one of our members: The Idea of a Chinese Arrest Warrant by Yahon Yin on the Publications page here with reviews

The China Quarterly by Yu Mou

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/abs/idea-of-a-china-arrest-warrant-surrender-of-fugitive-offenders-between-mainland-china-hong-kong-and-macau-yanhong-yin-hong-kong-hong-kong-university-press-2025-237-pp-hk49500-hbk-isbn-9789888876839/A09797503A0B7B500DCFFCA724D592FB

New Journal of European Criminal Law by Raquel Cardoso

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20322844251349503

Hong Kong Law Journal by Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque

https://web.law.hku.hk/hklj/2025-Vol-55.php#part2

Germany’s draft Bill on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters – see Thomas Wahl’s article on Eucrim (https://eucrim.eu/news/draft-bill-for-new-german-law-on-international-cooperation-in-criminal-matters/)

EPPO’s Operational Activities April – June 2024 by Cornelia Riehle LL.M. ( see https://eucrim.eu/news/eppos-operational-activities-april-june-2024/ )

On 30 April 2024, Directive (EU) 2024/1203 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on the protection of the environment through criminal law was published in the Official Journal of the EU. The Directive establishes updated minimum EU-wide standards for the definition of environmental criminal offences and penalties.

ECJ Rules in the EncroChat case https://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-670/22. See also Thomas Wahl’s comments on EUCRIM website https://eucrim.eu/news/ecj-ruled-in-encrochat-case/

In Case C‑202/24 [Alchaster] the CJEU considered the extent to which the UK continues to benefit from the presumption of mutual recognition in criminal matters. The judgment can be found here.

Procedural rights in criminal proceedings under the EU

Tony Wilson — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:49:49 +0000

Online seminar on 17th June 2025 between 17:00-18:30 BST

Attendance is free but registration is required here

For further details please view the flyer here

The recording for those who attended is available here

Powerpoint of Treatment of the Directives in ECtHR case Law by Alex Tinsley

Estella Baker: The EU Procedural Rights Directives – Evolution, Scope, and Judicial Interpretation

Mutual Recognition of Extradition Decisions?

Tony Wilson — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 13:41:06 +0000

Online April 22 17:30-19:00

Our speakers gave an interesting presentation on recent cases in the EU and shared the following:

The Second Life of the European Arrest Warrant: An Analysis of the Protective Potential of Mutual Recognition against Extradition to Third States | Transnational Criminal Law Review

ECBA Statement on mutual recognition of extradition decisions - June 2022

A recording will be available to those who attended (and to members on request to the Hon Secretary)

Safeguards in Extradition - Online 1-2pm Tuesday March 25th

Tony Wilson — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:44:36 +0000

The flyer for the event is available here

The seminar will consider the safeguards in the extradition process including the potential resurrection of the political offence bar, surrender between mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau and extradition for extra-territorial offences in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in EL-Khouri.

In the Chair ; Anand Doobay and Speakers Dr Paul Arnell, Robert Gordon University and

Dr Yanhong Yin

A recording is now available to those who attended here