Cleveringa Meeting Rome 2026: To Brussels with Beccaria. History and Evolution of EU Criminal Justice
During the Second World War, on 26 November 1940, several Leiden professors gave protest speeches following the dismissal of two Jewish colleagues, professors Meijers and David. One of them was the Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa. He explained in minute detail why the measures of the German occupier contravened international law. To commemorate these protest speeches, the Leiden University Fund (LUF), in collaboration with the Cleveringa committees, organises the annual Cleveringa Meetings (also known as the 26 November Meetings). Around 26 November, academics from Leiden give Cleveringa lectures all around the world.
To Brussels with Beccaria. History and Evolution of EU Criminal Justice
The works of the 18th century Italian intellectual Cesare Beccaria have been profoundly influential on domestic criminal law and justice across Europe. This lecture discusses whether and to what extent Beccaria’s ideas on crime and punishment (e.g. legality, proportionality) have also found their way to the much younger transnational criminal laws and policies enacted by the European Union. The lecture also addresses current developments at EU level which pose particular challenges to upholding classical criminal law principles such as those essential in Beccaria’s work.
About the speaker
Jannemieke Ouwerkerk is full Professor of European Criminal Law at Leiden Law School in the Netherlands. She is currently also the Head of the Law School’s Department of Criminal Law. Her research activities encompass the various branches of EU criminal law, such as cross-border cooperation in criminal matters between EU Member States, the harmonisation of criminal law and criminal procedure, and EU competences in these fields, but also the impact of EU law on Dutch criminal law. Jannemieke has published extensively on these matters, both in English and in Dutch. She was a visiting researcher at the universities of Munich (2021), Bonn (2020), Cambridge (2013), and the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence (2018). She has been the recipient of several research grants, such as a Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers in 2020. Appointed in 2024, Jannemieke is member of the European Commission’s expert group on EU criminal policy.
For any questions, please contact the members of the Rome Cleveringa Committee: Inge Weustink (iweustink[@]gmail.com) and Frianne Zevenbergen (friannezevenbergen[@]hotmail.com)