La aproximación constitucional al Derecho penal frente a las fuentes e instituciones supranacionales europeas

Abstract

The Constitutions of modern Rule-of-Law States (Rechtsstaaten) at the same time legitimize and limit criminal law. Also national criminal laws implementing EU acts must respect the constitutional rules: both the rules stated under national Constitutions and, foremost, the rules stemming from the present process of constitutionalization of the EU. The principle of subsidiarity of the exercise of EU competences and the principle of legality, in the way they are implemented by the European Court of Justice and by the literature related to the emerging European consti- tutionalism, represent a symbolic arena for a scrutiny over the construction of a European criminal law respectful of therule-of-law.