The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, sent a letter to EU Justice Ministers on Tuesday 12 April, calling for further coordination of judicial investigations in Ukraine.
According to the Commission’s spokesman on this issue, Christian Wigand, the Commissioner forwarded a request received by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General detailing several possible supports. This includes support through experts in the criminal field, equipment to store evidence, secure communication lines or training for investigators. “We call on Member States to assist with these requests and we will continue to coordinate these efforts”, the spokesman said.
On Wednesday 13 April, the EU Council published its decision to provide additional support to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General via the EUAM Ukraine mission (see EUROPE 12930/2). The mission will provide the Ukrainian authorities with strategic advice and training. It will also ensure close cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Eurojust.
He also announced that the Commission intends to propose an amendment to the 2018 Eurojust Regulation in the coming days. This would give Eurojust the legal possibility to collect and store evidence on war crimes. “The existing Regulation did not envisage a situation of this scale and crimes of this extent”, according to the Commission. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)