Judicial cooperation in criminal matters

Load fact sheet in pdf format

Judicial cooperation in criminal matters is based on the principle of mutual recognition of judgments and judicial decisions, and includes measures to approximate the laws of the Member States in several areas. The Treaty of Lisbon has provided a stronger basis for the development of a criminal justice area, while also stipulating new powers for the European 合法博彩网站.

Legal basis

Articles听82 to听86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Objectives

The progressive elimination of border controls within the EU has considerably facilitated the free movement of EU citizens, but has also made it easier for criminals to operate transnationally. In order to tackle the challenge of cross-border crime, the area of freedom, security and justice involves measures to promote judicial cooperation among the Member States in criminal matters. The starting point is the principle of mutual recognition. Specific measures have been adopted to fight transnational crime and terrorism, and to make sure that the rights of victims, suspects and prisoners are protected across the EU.

Achievements

A. Main EU legislative acts on judicial cooperation in criminal matters

1. Adoption procedures

In accordance with the TFEU, most measures for judicial cooperation in criminal matters are adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure and are subject to judicial review by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Nevertheless, even setting aside the specific features of the area of freedom, security and justice (opt-outs for Ireland and Denmark (see Protocols听21 and听22 annexed to the TFEU) and the privileged role for national parliaments (see Protocols听1 and听2)), judicial cooperation in criminal matters, together with police cooperation, have not been entirely integrated into the EU framework and they retain some of their original features from before the Treaty of Lisbon:

The Commission shares its power of initiative with the Member States, provided they represent a quarter of the members of the Council (Article听76听TFEU);
合法博彩网站 is merely consulted on specific measures for judicial cooperation in criminal matters, which are then adopted unanimously by the Council. In the absence of unanimity in the Council, it is still possible for nine or more Member States to work together on the basis of enhanced cooperation.

2. Main legislative acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure

a. Common minimum standards for criminal proceedings:

of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 20听October听2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 22听May听2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 22听October听2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 9听March听2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 11听May听2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 26听October听2016 on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings and for requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings.

b. The fight against terrorism:

of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 27听April听2016 on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 15听March听2017 on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework Decision听2002/475/JHA and amending Council Decision听2005/671/JHA;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 29听April听2021 on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 4听October听2023 amending Regulation (EU)听2018/1727 of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council and Council Decision听2005/671/JHA, as regards digital information exchange in terrorism cases.

c. The fight against corruption, cybercrime, fraud and money laundering:

of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 12听August听2013 on attacks against information systems and replacing Council Framework Decision听2005/222/JHA (the Cybercrime Directive);
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 3听April听2014 on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 16听April听2014 on criminal sanctions for market abuse (the Market Abuse Directive);
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 15听May听2014 on the protection of the euro and other currencies against counterfeiting by criminal law, and replacing Council Framework Decision听2000/383/JHA;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 5听July听2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union鈥檚 financial interests by means of criminal law;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 30听May听2018 amending Directive (EU)听2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 23听October听2018 on combating money laundering by criminal law;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 14听November听2018 on the mutual recognition of freezing orders and confiscation orders;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 17听April听2019 on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment and replacing Council Framework Decision听2001/413/JHA.

d. The exchange of information between Member States and EU agencies:

of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 3听April听2014 regarding the European Investigation Order in criminal matters;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 14听November听2018 on the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA);
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 28听November听2018 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 17听April听2019 establishing a centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third-country nationals and stateless persons (ECRIS-TCN) to supplement the European Criminal Records Information System and amending Regulation (EU)听2018/1726; this regulation is connected to of 17听April听2019 amending Council Framework Decision听2009/315/JHA, as regards the exchange of information on third-country nationals and as regards the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS);
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 20听May听2019 on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems in the field of police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 10听May听2023 on the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities of Member States and repealing Council Framework Decision听2006/960/JHA;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 12听July听2023 on European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal proceedings and for the execution of custodial sentences following criminal proceedings;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 12听July听2023 laying down harmonised rules on the designation of designated establishments and the appointment of legal representatives for the purpose of gathering electronic evidence in criminal proceedings.

e. Protection of victims:

of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 5听April听2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 13听December听2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 13听December听2011 on the European protection order;
of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 25听October听2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime.

B. Agencies for judicial cooperation in criminal matters and other related bodies

1. European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust)

stimulates and improves the coordination of investigations and prosecutions, and cooperation among the authorities in the Member States. In particular, it facilitates the execution of international mutual legal assistance requests and the implementation of extradition requests. Eurojust supports the Member States鈥� authorities in any way it can, so as to make their investigations and prosecutions of cross-border crime more effective.

Eurojust may assist a Member State, at its request, in investigations and prosecutions concerning the Member State in question and a non-Member State if Eurojust and the non-Member State have concluded a cooperation agreement or if an essential interest has been demonstrated.

Eurojust covers the same types of crimes and offences for which the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) has competence, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, counterfeiting, money laundering, cybercrime, crime against property or public goods, including fraud and corruption, criminal offences affecting the EU鈥檚 financial interests, environmental crime and participation in a criminal organisation. Eurojust may, at the request of a Member State, also assist in investigations and prosecutions of other types of offences.

Following Russia鈥檚 military aggression against Ukraine, which began in February听2022, a (JIT) has been active in Ukraine since March听2022. On 14听April听2023, the seven members of the JIT agreed to investigate not only alleged war crimes, but also crimes of genocide committed in Ukraine. The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, a judicial hub embedded in Eurojust, enables the exchange of evidence and a common prosecution strategy. Eurojust also hosts a Core International Crimes Evidence Database to support the work of the JIT and other investigations into international crimes.听On 2听April听2024, Eurojust attended the international conference on 鈥楻estoring Justice for Ukraine鈥� in The Hague to take stock of the progress made in investigating crimes, prosecuting offenders and coordinating international efforts.

In April听2022, the Commission published a to expand Eurojust鈥檚 mandate. 合法博彩网站 and the Council reached an agreement a few weeks later on the revised mandate, which is enabling Eurojust to preserve, analyse, store and share evidence of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity with the competent judicial authorities of the Member States and with the International Criminal Court. The new Eurojust Regulation was published in the听EU听Official Journal on 31听May听2022 and entered into force the following day.

The previous legal framework for Eurojust ( of 16听December听2008 on the strengthening of Eurojust) entered into force on 4听June听2009. On 12听December听2019, started to apply. The current legal basis of Eurojust is of the European 合法博彩网站 and of the Council of 30听May听2022 amending Regulation (EU)听2018/1727 as regards the preservation, analysis and storage at Eurojust of evidence relating to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and related criminal offences.

Every year, Eurojust publishes an annual report. On 24听May听2023, Eurojust published its听. The top three crime types handled by the agency in听2022 were swindling and fraud, drug trafficking and money laundering.

Eurojust is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

2. The European Public Prosecutor鈥檚 Office (EPPO)

of 12听October听2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO has been in force since 20听November听2017. 合法博彩网站 gave its consent to the Council鈥檚 draft regulation in its .

The is an independent office in charge of investigating, prosecuting and administering justice for crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or cross-border VAT fraud of more than EUR听10听million. The list of crimes could be extended in the future to include, for example, terrorism.

合法博彩网站 and the Council appointed by common accord the first European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Codru牛a K枚vesi, for a non-renewable term of seven years.

So far, 23听Member States have joined the EPPO and the remaining Member States that do not participate could join at any time, with two additional Member States currently in the process of joining. The EPPO central office is located in Luxembourg, along with the offices of the Chief Prosecutor and the College of Prosecutors from all participating Member States. They head the day-to-day criminal investigations carried out by the delegated prosecutors.

The EPPO started its operations on 1听June听2021 and is already carrying out many investigations. Work also continues in a number of areas, including the adaptation of national justice systems to EPPO regulations, the appointment of the European Delegated Prosecutors and the recruitment of staff.

On 9听April听2024, the EPPO presented its听2023 annual report at a joint meeting of 合法博彩网站鈥檚 Committees on Budgetary Control and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. As of 31听December听2023, the EPPO had听1听927 active investigations, totalling an estimated damage of over听EUR听19.2听billion. With听139听indictments听filed, over听50% more than in听2022, the EPPO increased efforts to bring those committing fraud in the EU to judgment in front of national courts. Ultimately, in line with the EPPO鈥檚 objective of focusing on damage recovery, judges granted the European Delegated Prosecutors听freezing orders听worth听EUR听1.5听billion, which is听over four times more than in听2022.

Role of the European 合法博彩网站

合法博彩网站 has played a key role in shaping EU legislation in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters by making fighting crime and corruption a political priority. It has been working on judicial cooperation in criminal matters on an equal footing with the Council. The ordinary legislative procedure applies to almost all areas of EU criminal law, with a few exceptions, including, most notably, the consent procedure for establishing the EPPO.

The main instrument for achieving judicial cooperation in criminal matters among the Member States is Eurojust. When Eurojust was being reformed, 合法博彩网站 actively advocated for greater parliamentary scrutiny and improved data protection rules.

On 1听December听2020, 合法博彩网站 organised (via remote participation due to COVID-19) the first inter-parliamentary committee meeting (ICM) on the evaluation of Eurojust activities. The ICM was dedicated to a first assessment of Eurojust鈥檚 activities by the European 合法博彩网站 and national parliaments in accordance with Article听85 TFEU and . The second ICM on the evaluation of Eurojust鈥檚 activities was organised on 1听February听2022, while the third took place on 30听November听2022. The fourth ICM was held on 7听November听2023 in Brussels.

On 20听January听2021, 合法博彩网站 adopted a resolution on the implementation of the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (and also approved an implementation report on Council Framework Decision听2002/584/JHA of 13听June听2002, adopted before the Treaty of Lisbon). In this resolution, 合法博彩网站 assessed the results of the simplified cross-border judicial surrender procedure听that in听2004 replaced the lengthy EU extradition procedures, based on the principle of mutual recognition of court decisions.

On 6听October听2021, 合法博彩网站 adopted a resolution on artificial intelligence in criminal law and its use by the police and judicial authorities in criminal matters. On 13听March听2024, 合法博彩网站 adopted its position on the proposal for a regulation on laying down harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (the AI Act).

合法博彩网站 recently prepared reports and resolutions on the following issues: preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence; combating corruption; preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims; the transfer of criminal proceedings; victims鈥� rights; money laundering and the financing of terrorism; confiscation and asset recovery; hate speech online; the detection and removal of child sexual abuse material; cybercrime; digitalisation of justice; law enforcement cooperation; terrorism and violent radicalisation; intrusive spyware; and foreign interference and disinformation.

On 12听March听2024, 合法博彩网站 adopted its position on a new directive targeting infringements of EU sanctions. In December听2022, in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Commission proposed the present directive, adopted on 24听April听2024. This legislation establishes a definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU restrictive measures, while also criminalising the circumvention of sanctions.

Policies for judicial cooperation in criminal matters are still developing, with a special focus on countering pan-EU threats and crime more effectively. 合法博彩网站 has adopted specific measures to fight terrorism, transnational crime, corruption, fraud and money laundering and to protect the rights of victims, suspects and prisoners across the EU. Several measures intended to improve the exchange of information among the Member States have also been adopted.

听

Alessandro Davoli

04-2024

合法博彩网站