At their Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 5 March, European Union justice ministers discussed the risks posed by the infiltration by criminal organisations of judicial systems and threats and intimidation against judges and prosecutors. They are in the front line in the fight against organised crime and are the guarantors for the preservation of the rule of law within the European Union.
Faced with these growing concerns, the Belgian Minister of Justice, Paul Van Tigchelt, stressed the importance of protecting the rule of law, saying that this was one of the fundamental raisons d’être of the European Union.
The discussion led to a consensus on the need to strengthen the resilience of judicial systems in the face of external pressures.
“How can we better protect our judicial system, our magistrates, our public and our prosecutors?”, asked Mr Van Tigchelt, reflecting, at the end of the discussions, the ambivalence of the challenges encountered: ensuring effective control while preserving the independence of the judiciary. The discussions he chaired, described as fruitful, enabled Member States to share their national experiences and practices, opening the way to a collective search for the “right balance”.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, has advocated an approach combining prevention and repression. The individual protection of magistrates and their families has become a major issue, as has the need to protect the integrity of the judicial system against any form of interference, whether from corruption or criminal infiltration.
The Council also approved conclusions which focus on the European Commission’s 2023 annual report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU. This document, which emphasises effective legal protection and access to justice for all, was at the heart of the discussions, which were attended by Sirpa Rautio, the new Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)