On Thursday 29 June, Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran presented the annual report of the European Union’s judicial cooperation unit to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). This report, published on 24 May (see EUROPE 13203/20), highlights the main developments, areas for improvement and future trends in the work of the judicial authorities.
Mr Hamran stressed the growing need for coordination between the various European judicial authorities. According to the President of Eurojust, “crimes have become more complex and international, which makes cooperation between member countries essential”.
Eurojust therefore plays a central role, as pointed out by Mr Hamran, who welcomed Eurojust’s achievements. “This is absolutely extraordinary, because we Europeans have made judicial cooperation a tool of the 21st century”, he declared.
In addition, the figures for 2022 show the extent of the work carried out by Eurojust. Nearly 11,500 criminal investigations were supported, including more than 2,000 large-scale operations and more than 265 joint investigations. Nearly 300,000 victims of crime have been brought before the courts, almost 3,000 suspects have been arrested and around €3 billion worth of criminal assets have been seized.
Nevertheless, despite this ever-increasing workload (more than 10% per year), Mr Hamran pointed out that Eurojust had not received any additional resources to carry out its tasks - apart from new ones - which he was critical of: “We are now on the brink of a precipice, we will no longer be able to provide support with the same quality, if we have to compromise on staff and budget”.
Digitalisation was another key area addressed by Ladislav Hamran. In his view, cross-border investigations have highlighted Internet-facilitated crime, which has been on the increase in recent years. “Criminals are using more and more technology, so we have to follow suit”, observed Mr Hamran. And while he welcomed the European Commission’s proposal for a platform for collaboration between Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) (see EUROPE 13083/19), he stressed the need to further improve communication between public prosecutors, Eurojust and third countries by setting up “secure communication channels”.
Mr Hamran also discussed the situation in Ukraine. Eurojust is actively involved in collecting and analysing evidence relating to Russian aggression in Ukraine. An International Court of Justice database has been set up to gather evidence from various countries, including Ukraine. Finally, the President of Eurojust concluded his speech by announcing that the International Coordination Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (see EUROPE 13135/12) will be launched on 3 July.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/7jv (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)