17/10/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 17 October, the European Commission published a handbook to help judicial authorities make better use of the European arrest warrant for tackling cross-border crime. Since its launch in 2004, the European arrest warrant has become the most used EU instrument in the penal justice system, with 16,144 European arrest warrants issued in 2015, explains the European Commission in a press release. The handbook provides a number of tips and recommendations for helping judges and practitioners issuing or implementing a European arrest warrant. It gives information about deducting the period of detention spent in the member state of implementation, obligations vis-à-vis third countries and tips on transit. The handbook can be found at: http://bit.ly/2ifDANZ . (MF)