The EU Directive on combating terrorism and the criminalisation of travelling

Abstract

Over the past few years, the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters has deeply influenced European criminal law. The United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union have called upon States to criminalise certain conducts linked to the behaviour of these criminals, such as travelling abroad for terrorist purposes. These measures have been considered by many as an unjustified restriction on the free movement of persons guaranteed by several human rights instruments. Taking into account that the development of EU criminal law is based on the assumption that every Member State has an adequate system of protection of fundamental rights, this criticism cannot be ignored. In this sense, an analysis of relevant case law on the restrictions of freedom of movement is highly useful to understanding the position of judiciaries on the matter, and to identify possible difficulties in implementing these restrictions of free movement in the domestic systems.