Institution of Punishment in the European Legal Environs

This article deals with some issues of criminal sanctions in the proces of „europeisation“ of criminal law. The author thinks about trends to create certain European level of standards in the area of punishment.
Text of this article is divided in five parties. In the first part the autor presents possible definitons of European criminal law and answers a question of possibilty to create European criminal sanctions system. The second part is devoted to institution of punishment from the point of view of Corpus Juris project. The next part deals with this institution in the framework of „third pillar“ of EU. Finally, the fourth part is focused on relevant provisions of Lisbon Treaty and its impact on national legislation in the area of punishment. The last part contains conclusions. The autor summs up this paper by stating that creating of European standards of punishment or some kind of European system of punishments could be possible and also helpful for fighting international criminality. However, the specialities (cultural, historical, political etc.) of particular countries has to be always respect. It seems to be very topical especially in the “after Lisbon Treaty” period.