Jannemieke Ouwerkerk appointed to EC Expert Group on EU Criminal Policy
In October 2024, Jannemieke Ouwerkerk, Professor of European Criminal Law, was appointed to the European Commission’s (EC) Expert Group on EU Criminal Policy. This independent advisory group focuses on improving coherence and consistency within EU criminal law policy.
As part of her new role, Professor Ouwerkerk will collaborate with 19 other legal experts and academics from across Europe to advise the EC on legislation and policy proposals in the field of substantive criminal law. In this way, she will contribute to the objective of enhancing the role of academic knowledge in the development of European criminal justice policy. She will also work to develop policies that promote justice and transparency within criminal justice in the European Union. Her legal expertise enables her to provide advice that is both academically and socially relevant.
Background: Professor Jannemieke Ouwerkerk
As a professor of European Criminal Law at Leiden University, Ouwerkerk’s expertise lies at the intersection of EU criminal law and Dutch criminal (procedural) law, with a specific focus on cross-border collaboration on criminal cases. Her research also focuses on the development of EU regulations in the field of formal criminal law (and especially defence rights) and substantive criminal law (such as criminalisation and sanctions). Finally, as Head of the Criminal Law department within the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, she is closely involved in training the next generation of criminal lawyers.
Professor Ouwerkerk's work is further enriched by the development of normative frameworks for the legitimate exercise of EU criminalisation powers, for example in the areas of terrorism, the environment and EU fraud.