Socio-legal approaches to comparative law: methodological reflections on transnational criminal policy

Recent years have seen a new rapprochement between comparative law and the sociology of law, reflecting not least the limits of the dominant functional comparative method. I argue that the insights resulting from this rapprochement should be welcomed not least by comparative criminal lawyers. To make this case, I will explore examples where transnational harmonisation efforts have, over the last decades, sometimes produced severe legal problems, partially as a consequence of an ill-informed dialogue between national legal orders. Here I will, as cases in point, focus primarily on the international legal framework against money laundering and terrorism financing and more briefly look into tensions between criminal procedure and EU data protection law. By analysing such deficiencies, I aim to highlight the often insufficiently appreciated potential of comparative law for criminal policy. That will, for example, involve qualitative research methods, in particular to improve our understanding of how law enforcement authorities handle their investigative powers.