Towards a European Penology: Foundations, Key Principles and Challenges

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

Is there a genuinely way of thinking about punishment in Europe, or are we merely observing a patchwork of national penal traditions under a common European human rights framework?
Over the past decades, scholars have debated whether a European model of punishment exists – one defined by a shared normative framework and common principles influencing criminal policy and penitentiary systems across the continent (Tonry/Frase, 2001; Ashworth, 2002; Murdoch, 2006b; Girling, 2006; Snacken 2006, 2009, 2010, 2014; 2021, 2022; Snacken/Dumortier, 2011; Snacken/Van Zyl Smit, 2009; Daems/Snacken/Van Zyl Smit, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019; Cliquennois/Snacken/Van Zyl Smit, 2021a, 2021b). The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has further reinforced this notion by acknowledging European penal principles, most notably in Muršić v. Croatia [GC] (2016), as emphasize in the Partly Dissenting Opinion of Judge Pinto de Albuquerque. Yet, despite this shared approach to punishment, European Penology still lacks a fully consolidated theoretical framework.
This panel aims to critically assess Europe’s position on punishment as a distinct penal model, exploring its normative foundations, institutional actors and key principles. Additionally, it will examine the challenges involved in both its conceptual and practical implementation, including the tensions between national sovereignty and supranational legal frameworks.
Through four complementary papers, this panel will explore the governance of punishment in Europe and the role of the ECtHR, the right to rehabilitation, and transatlantic perspectives on life imprisonment. By engaging with cutting-edge legal, criminological, and policy-based debates, this panel aims to push the boundaries of existing discussions and provoke a critical reassessment of European Penology.

Subtopic

• Topic 5: Social Control and Criminal Justice / Penology and Theories Punishment (Crime, Science and Politics WG )

Chairs

• Beatriz López Lorca, University of Castilla-La Mancha

• Adriano Martufi, University of Pavia

Individual Presentations

• European Governance of Punishment and the Role of the ECtHR - Beatriz López Lorca, University of Castilla-La Mancha

• Life Sentencing and the European Position on Punishment - Christopher Seeds, University of California Irvine

• Bordered Rehabilitation? The “Right” to Rehabilitation of Non-Citizens in a Post-National Polity - Adriano Martufi, University of Pavia

• Rehabilitation, Mental Health and Human Rights - Sonja Meijer, Radboud University