1st Edition

Police Cooperation and Sovereignty in the EU Norway’s Lessons for Europe

By Synnøve Ugelvik Copyright 2019
    300 Pages
    by Routledge

    300 Pages
    by Routledge

    The State and the police are traditionally seen as closely connected phenomena. Today, however, rapid EU legal developments mean that European police forces are no longer tied to a specific national legal context or a specific territory in the way they used to be.



    Norway is not a member of the EU. Or is it? This book shows that although it lacks formal membership status, Norway has become part of almost all of the major EU police cooperation measures and agreements. Not only does this mean that foreign police forces may operate on Norwegian territory and vice versa, but in addition, a wide range of EU regulations and cooperation instruments are incorporated directly into Norwegian law. With the increased focus on international and transnational police cooperation in mind, what does it mean to be a sovereign state in Europe today?



    This book combines strong legal and theoretical analyses of a specific national system to show how this country is tied to and dependent on a wider international and supranational system of legal rules, technologies and concepts. This makes the book relevant not only for the Norwegian prosecution and police authorities, but also for readers outside Norway interested in exploring how and whether the police as a modern state function has changed through the implementation of international cross-border cooperation mechanisms.

    1. Introduction;



    Part I: Norway and the EU;



    2. The Police Act of 1995: The Modern Norwegian Police Organisation;



    3. The Nordic Police Cooperation Outside of the EU System;



    4. The Development of EU Crime Control Policies and the Norwegian (non) Membership;



    5. The Development of Police Cooperation within the EU;



    6. Norway – Inside or Outside?;



    7. Internal Sovereignty: the Question of Membership;



    8. External Sovereignty: Norway and EU Institutions;



    Part II: EU Police Cooperation: The Practical Regulations and their Impact on Norway;



    9. Information Exchange and Analysis;



    10. Actions Following Hits in the Databases;



    11. Liaison Officers: Between Operational and Non-Operational Cooperation;



    12. National Law Enforcement on Foreign Territory: Operational Cooperation;



    13. Joint Operations and Investigations;



    14. Impact on the Norwegian Police;



    15. Impact on Norwegian Society;



    16. Bibliography;

    Biography

    Synnøve Ugelvik is Associate Professor at the Department of Public and International Law at the University of Oslo. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Oslo and has previously worked as a deputy judge and public prosecutor at the Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions Office. Her research interests include penal law, criminal procedural law, European police cooperation and police history. She is co-editor of Justice and Security in the 21st Century: Rights, Risks and the Rule of Law. Her research has appeared in international and Scandinavian journals such as the European Journal of Criminology, European Journal of Policing Studies and Retfærd.

    'The world of police and judicial cooperation in the EU is a highly complex one, filled with dilemmas. Whereas sovereignty remains the leading principle, internationalization of (organized) crime continuously calls for extensive information exchange and joint operations between enforcement agencies. This book presents an overview of legal and practical developments in both the EU and Norway. Anyone who is interested in cross-border law enforcement cooperation should read it!'

    Toine Spapens, Tilburg University, Netherlands

    'European police cooperation is a timely, yet often challenging topic for lay and academic observers alike. This comprehensive, systematic and authoritative book is invaluable in helping readers gain an overview of this important field, and will be extremely useful to students, scholars and practitioners for years to come.'
    Katja Franko, University of Oslo, Norway

    'This book makes an important contribution to police literature by analyzing the impact of international and EU police cooperation on internal security and policy of a non-EU member state (Norway). The conclusion that EU police cooperation challenges Norwegian sovereignty and impacts on crime policy choices and priorities sheds a crucial new light on the consequences of cross-border policing.'

    Antoinette Verhage, Ghent University, Belgium

    `[T]he book offers readers a detached and unbiased external point of view about the impact of EU and international police cooperation at EU level on the sovereignty of states. Above all, the author has written one of the most comprehensive and thought-provoking books on the subject of international policing inside the EU.'
    Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pay094