Once a legal abnormality that was criticised on human rights grounds, the closed material procedure (CMP) has now become the main mechanism for dealing with allegedly sensitive security information in the UK. This article considers the role of European human rights law in that process. It argues that the CMP can be conceptualised as the product of human rights law, which has developed so as to legalise and normalise its use, and that this process is symptomatic of a deeper inter‐relationship between human rights law and the preservation of states' security interests, which renders the former inherently unsuitable for dealing with security phenomena.
Based on an institutional and legal mapping of the field across Europe, this article explores the different barriers to the effectiveness of the eu's regime on the recovery and confiscation of proceeds of crime. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the challenges that arise in this field and suggest possible areas of legal or policy intervention. But it is also -using the example of asset confiscation -to contribute to debates about the effectiveness of the eu's legal strategy in building a genuine area of freedom, security and justice. The article argues that, despite the adoption of new legislation in this field and the stronger institutional framework introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, the effectiveness of the eu's action is unlikely to significantly improve. The legal rules still present a number of deficiencies and the emphasis on formal legal solutions has come at the expense of broader questions of transposition and utilisation, which are however crucial to ensuring effective recovery.
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