European Union

European Lawyers Foundation

The European Lawyers Foundation (ELF) is a network of law societies and bars in Europe which is focused on training. Current projects include an exchange scheme for lawyers in Europe to enhance practical knowledge of other European legal systems, training on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU Criminal Law, EU asylum and immigration law and capacity building for lawyers involved with cases taken to the ICC. ELF publications can be freely downloaded from the site.

European Criminal Law Association

Website of the European Criminal Law Association (ECLA) (UK) a membership organisation of lawyers and academics concerned with the development of criminal law in Europe. The ECLA was previously known as the Association to Combat Fraud in Europe. A selection of reports and articles by members of ECLA are made freely available on the site. These deal with issues including organised crime, corruption, law enforcement and Brexit. Details of past and future events are also given along with a list of committee members and a copy of the ECLA constitution.

European Criminal Law Academic Network

The European Criminal Law Academic Network (ECLAN) is an organisation of researchers and academics from 32 countries specialising in EU criminal law. The aims of ECLAN include facilitating collaboration between universities and developing academic research and training in the field of EU criminal law. ECLAN organises conferences and summer schools details of which are given online. Details of publications are also given with a selection of reports and articles made freely available.

European Public Prosecutor’s Office

Website of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the independent public prosecution office of the European Union, which is responsible for “investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU”. The crimes investigated include fraud, money laundering and corruption. A section setting out the EPPO’s legal framework  includes links to the EPPO directive (established the EPPO) and the PIF (protection of the union's financial interests) directive which sets out which crimes the EPPO deals with.

EPPO-LEX The legal research library on the European Public Prosecutor's Office

The EPPO-LEX website is a private initiative aimed at legal practitioners and researchers working with the EPPO Regulation (Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939) which established the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The EPPO is responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crimes against the EU. There is an annotated version of the Regulation which includes explanations and links to relevant provisions of the EPPO’s internal Rules of Procedures, other relevant EU legal acts and decisions of the EPPO College and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) Search Engine

Search facility covering the national case databases of the EU member states that use ECLI references, plus cases from the Court of Justice of the EU. Searchable by member state, court, area of law and other criteria. Key word searches must, as a rule, use the language of the member state/s whose cases you want to find, however, a small proportion of the cases have been translated into other languages. The search engine is one of the tools offered by the European e-Justice Portal, an initiative of the European Commission and EU member states.

Centre for the Study of European Labour Law

Website of the Centre for the Study of European Labour Law at the University of Catania, set up in 1996 by Massimo D’Antona. The focus of the Centre is European social integration, the labour market and social protection systems. The Centre makes available a Working Papers Collection covering EU social law and policy, labour law and industrial relations. The papers are brought together a series of online volumes, Biblioteca 20 Maggio, which can be browsed or searched back to 2003. The papers are mostly in Italian with some in English.

Unified Patent Court

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is part of the European unitary patent system that provides uniform protection across all participating countries. It was established by the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) 2013 and is currently used by 17 EU member states who are signatories to the Agreement. There is information on the jurisdiction and structure of the Court which comprises a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal, and a Registry.

Unitary Patent System

This part of the European Commission website outlines the unitary patent system which was launched in June 2023. The unitary patent provides uniform protection across EU countries who are signatories to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) with the Court providing a single, specialised patent jurisdiction. There is a guide to the unified system, official texts, including the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court, and other background documents.

EU Exit Web Archive

The EU Exit Web Archive, maintained by the National Archives, is an online archive of documents providing an official UK reference point for EU law as it stood at the end of the Brexit implementation period. This collection consists of documents taken from EUR-Lex, including Treaties, legislative documents, case law, and the Official Journal of the EU, published up until 11pm GMT on December 31st 2020. The Archive can be searched using filters including keyword, type, date of document, status at EU exit, and language.

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