Prof. dr. Taru Spronken (Hoogleraar Straf(proces)recht en advocaat bij de Advocatenpraktijk UM)
Bouillonstraat 1-3
Room D1.208
Maastricht
P.O. Box 616
NL-6200 MD Maastricht
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 43 3882778
Fax: + 31 43 3884907
E-mail: taru.spronken@maastrichtuniversity.nl
List of publications: Metis
Electronic versions of most publications by Professor Spronken
can be found at: http://www.narcis.info/person/RecordID/PRS1245488/
Professional career history
Following her graduation from the Utrecht University Faculty of Law in 1979, she worked as advocate and defence counsel in private practice in Maastricht the Netherlands. From 1987 onwards she was lecturer in Criminal Law at the University of Maastricht. She is the founder of the University legal aid clinic (Advocatenpraktijk Universiteit Maastricht) in 1988 and was coordinator of this legal aid clinic during the first eight years.
In 2002 she became Professor of Criminal Defence and in 2005 Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Maastricht.
She teaches on criminal procedure, human rights and legal ethics. She is Director of the Master Forensics, Criminology and Legal Practice.
She has been Co-Chair of the Legal Development Committee of the European Criminal Bar Association and is member of the board of the Dutch Association of Defence Counsel and is Chair of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Law of the Dutch Bar Association. She is executive editor of the Nieuwsbrief Strafrecht and “ de rubriek Advocatuur” in Delikt and Delinkwent, contributor of criminal law to the Nederlands Juristenblad and Substitute Judge in the Court of Appeal of Arnhem the Netherlands.
Expertise
- criminal procedure;
- criminal defence;
- human rights;
- European cooperation in criminal matters.
Research
She has published extensively on the position of the defence in criminal proceedings and the European Convention on Human Rights. Together with Prof. Ties Prakken she has set up a companion for defence counsel in the Netherlands, in which a panel of specialist authors, all practising defence counsel in the Netherlands, have participated. The Handboek Verdediging, [Companion to Criminal Defence] Kluwer Deventer has been first published in October 2003 and the second edition has appeared in 2009. It contains many practical, legal and ethical aspects of criminal defence in the Netherlands, as well as international European aspects. In her current research she focuses on the implications of EU cooperation in criminal matters for procedural rights in criminal proceedings in general and for the position of the defence lawyer.
Research Projects
She has been, or still is involved in the following projects
1. Procedural Rights in criminal proceedings: Existing Level of Safeguards in the European Union.
This is a study to assess levels of provision of procedural rights currently afforded to suspected persons in criminal proceedings throughout the EU, based on a questionnaire sent by the Commission to the Ministries of Justice and Home Affairs in the Member States containing questions regarding existing criminal justice arrangements in the Member States. In the report specific reference is made to the procedural rights covered by the Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on certain procedural rights in criminal proceedings throughout the EU of 28 April 2004 , in order to establish which Member States meet the Commission’s proposed minimum standards and to identify any potential lacunae in relation to each of the areas of procedural rights covered by the Proposed FD. The report: T.N.B.M. Spronken, M. Attinger, Procedural Rights in criminal proceedings: Existing Level of Safeguards in the European Union, is funded and published by the European Commission, 12 December 2005, to be found at:
http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=3891
2. "The European Arrest Warrant project of the ECBA".The project aims to provide criminal defence lawyers with practical and practice-based information about European Arrest Warrant (EAW) surrender cases. The project focuses on the defence rights of suspects in surrender proceedings. The project started in september 2004 and was financed by the AGIS programme of the European Commission within the European Arrest Warrant Project (Eurowarrant.net).
3."Legal protection of persons suspected of Crime at the investigative stage in the EU", financed under the AGIS programme of the European Commission. Duration of the project: May 2005-May 2007.
The objective of this research study is to examine the nature of the legal protections provided to suspects in a range of EU countries, from both a theoretical and practice-based perspective. Through the establishment of a co-ordinated international research group, this study aims to provide a more contextual understanding of the criminal defence role across different European jurisdictions, considering the legal and procedural rules in place and the implications which the pre-trial stage process has for the trial stage.
The principal aims of the project are to consolidate information on:
i) the role of the defence in the pre-trial stage within different EU legal systems;
ii) the procedural and financial provision made for the delivery of defence advice and representation;
iii) the relationship between the pre-trial and the trial stage in different countries.
The results of the study have been published in May 2007 in a book: E. Cape, J. Hodgson, T. Prakken, T. Spronken (eds.), Suspects in Europe, Procedural Rights at the Investigative Stage of the Criminal Process in Europe, Intersentia Antwerp-Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-90-5095-627-7
4. “Status Quaestionis, Questionnaire on the Provision of Legal Interpreting and Translation in the EU” with financial support of the AGIS programme 2006 of the European Commission. This project sets out to provide more detailed and objective infromation about existing provisions on legal interpreting and translation througout the EU by means of an EU-wide questionnaire. The results have been published in Erik Hertog and Jan van Gucht (eds.), Status Quaestionis, Questionnaire on the Provision of Legal Interpreting and Translation in the EU, Intersentia Antwerp-Oxford-Portland 2008
ISBN 978-90-5095-804-2
5. “Effective defence rights in the EU and access to justice: investigating and promoting best practice”, financed under the Criminal Justice 2007 Action Grants of the European Commission.This project is a joint initiative of JUSTICE, the University of the West of England, Open Society Justice Initiative and the Maastricht University (main applicant and co-ordinator).
The goal of the research-project is to explore, backed by empirical investigation, the right to effective defence in criminal proceedings for indigent defendants across nine European jurisdictions and to provide empirical information on the extent to which procedural rights that are indispensable for an effective defence, such as the right to information, the right of access to a lawyer and the right to an interpreter are provided in practice.
1. First it is sought to define the content and scope of the right to effective defence and the corresponding government obligation to ensure the implications of this right in general, and to indigent defendants in particular, based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and best practice standards, both from countries in the EU and elswhere, for instance in the US.
2. A monitoring methodology will be developed by formulating a set of indicators that can be used to conduct the research of the right to effective defence for indigent defendants in selected European countries and which could be further used as a framework for regular monitoring of defendants' rights implementation.
3.On the basis of the suggested methodology national reports will be drafted:
- first in a pilot research study in England and Wales to test the validity of the
monitoring tools
- second in the rest of the countries involved in the project.
4. An overall report will review the national reports outlining the main findings and policy recommendations for the given countries and European institutions.
5. The preliminary monitoring results of three countries wil be represented at a conference in October 2008 in Maastricht and the final report at a conference in May 2010 in Budapest.
6. The results of the research will be published and disseminated in reports and in a book in 2010.
6. Prevention of Torture in the Peoples Republic China
The overall objective of this Action is to contribute to the prevention of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in China as well as to move China towards the consideration of signing the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (CAT). The specific objective of this Action is to strengthen the legal and practical mechanisms for enhanced accountability of law enforcement agencies in the prevention of torture through promoting external monitoring, ethical investigations and robust complaint mechanisms. The main activities are research into policy and legislative reform; development of practical mechanisms to prevent torture in detention; police training. The project runs from 2009-2012 and is funded by the European Commission.
7. EU Study on Procedural Rights: Existing Level of Safeguards in Member States - 2008 update
This study is a follow up to the study “’Procedural Rights in Criminal Proceedings: Existing level of safeguards in the EU”, carried out in 2005 together with M. Attinger. The aim of this follow up study is to obtain up to date information on the same subject for all 27 Member States and to analyze that information with specific reference to the provisions of the draft Framework Decision on Procedural Rights in Criminal Proceedings in the EU, that has been rejected in 2007, inter alia because of the argument of some Member States that the ECHR adequately protects the rights of suspects and accused persons within the EU. Several Member States have expressed their disappointment to the Commission that the discussions on a Framework Decision on Procedural Rights were terminated, because it is well-known that adequate safeguards do not exist yet throughout the EU. This study is funded by the European Commission. To be finalised in 2010
8. EU-wide Letter of Rights in Criminal Proceedings: Towards Best Practice
The goal of the research project is to explore: 1. Whether and to what extent suspects are informed in writing about their rights in criminal proceedings in the 27 Member States of the EU; 2. How this practice relates to the requirements of a fair trial and more specifically the right to information under Art. 6 para. 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights; 3. Whether it is possible to develop a model Letter of Rights to be applicable throughout the EU. Activities to be performed by Prof. Taru Spronken, Maastricht University: 1. Desk review and development of an on-line questionnaire to examine the actual practice of informing suspects in writing in EU Member States. 2. The results of the questionnaire will be analysed and compared. 3. A model ?Letter of Rights? will be developed. 4. An overall report will review the main findings and policy recommendations for implementing a Letter of Rights in each EU Member State. The results of the research will be discussed in an international workshop in Berlin to be organised by the applicant in June 2010 to which representatives of governments of all Member States will be invited. The overall report of the research will be printed and disseminated and will be made available to the public through the internet. This study is funded by te European Commission and the German Government. To be finalised in 2010.
Curriculum vitae
Zij studeerde rechten in Utrecht en vestigde zich in 1979 als advocaat in Maastricht. In 1987 stapte zij over naar de Universiteit Maastricht. Daar is zij nauw betrokken geweest bij de oprichting en ontwikkeling van de Advocatenpraktijk Universiteit Maastricht en de TogaMaster en is als advocaat aan deze praktijk verbonden. In 2002 is zij benoemd tot bijzonder hoogleraar Verdediging in Strafzaken en vanaf 2005 is zij hoogleraar straf(proces)recht verbonden aan de Capaciteitsgroep Strafrecht en Criminologie.
Zij geeft onderwijs op het gebied van strafprocesrecht en mensenrechten, professionele ethiek en is directeur van de Master Forensica Criminologie en Rechtspleging.
Daarnaast is zij voorzitter van de Adviescommissie Strafrecht van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten, lid van het bestuur van de Nederlandse Vereniging van Strafrechtadvocaten en de European Criminal Bar Association, redacteur van de Nieuwsbrief Strafrecht en van de rubriek Advocatuur in Delikt en Delinkwent, medewerker strafrecht van het Nederlands Juristenblad en raadsheer-plaatsvervanger in het Hof Arnhem.
Publicaties
Zij heeft veel gepubliceerd op het gebied van de verdediging in strafzaken en het EVRM. Samen met Prof. Ties Prakken heeft zij het Handboek Verdediging geredigeerd, waaraan een groot aantal gespecialiseerde strafrechtadvocaten bijdragen hebben geleverd. De tweede druk van het Handboek Verdediging is verschenen in 2009 en bevat veel practische, juridische en ethische aspecten van verdediging in strafzaken in Nederland en de EU. De focus van haar onderzoek ligt op de implicaties van de strafrechtelijke samenwerking binnen de EU voor de rechtsbijstand in strafzaken en de positie van de verdediging. Dit was tevens het onderwerp van haar inaugurele rede op 10 oktober 2003 ‘A place of greater safety’ bespiegelingen over een Statuut voor Strafrechtadvocaten in de Europese Unie.
Expertise
- verdediging in strafzaken;
- strafprocesrecht;
- EVRM;
- Europese samenwerking in strafzaken.
