Brussels, 19/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Czech Presidency of the EU said on Friday 16 January that it was time to inject fresh impetus into the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions in criminal matters, following a debate among European Justice Ministers in Prague. “Member states have agreed to strengthen the principle of mutual recognition,” said Czech Justice Minister Jiøi Pospíšil, after meeting his counterparts. Set up in Tampere in 1999 and considered to be the cornerstone of the judicial cooperation in the European Union, the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions allows for a ruling delivered in one member state to be recognised and carried out in other member states. “The most efficient instrument in this area is the framework decision on the European Arrest Warrant. There are a number of instruments, however, which have not been implemented yet,” said Pospíšil.
Between 2002 and 2008, 10 mutual recognition instruments in criminal matters were concluded. However, only one, the European Arrest Warrant, has been transposed and used by all member states. Application of other laws is too fragmented, particularly on the evidence warrant. Furthermore, no agreement has been reached on procedural guarantees in criminal proceedings. As a result, the Commission believes that there has to be serious consideration on how to proceed on the principle of mutual recognition.
European Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot acknowledged that some instruments “don't work as well as others”. To remedy the situation, he argued for bringing the various national procedures more into line with one another. “We must try to have very small measures thereby bringing about mutual recognition without too much of a problem,” he said. To start these considerations, the Dutch delegation proposed setting up a mechanism helping to evaluate and compare the legal systems of the various member states. Such an evaluation system would have to be “transparent and simple”, Barrot said. Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said that this evaluation would be carried out in close collaboration with legal practitioners. “Any progress in criminal law rests on mutual recognition and, therefore, through the two joint approaches of mutual recognition and closer approximation of laws and procedures,” Barrot noted.
Luxembourg Justice Minister Luc Frieden said, “The principle of mutual recognition of legal decisions was agreed when the EU had only 15 members. It is much more difficult to apply mutual recognition with 27 members”. He felt that “accompanying measures will have to be taken to build confidence: more training for European lawyers, identical minimum procedural rules in the various member states, especially for the most serious crimes”. He concluded by saying, “If all that is done, mutual recognition will be much easier, at any rate as long as there are no further differences of viewpoint in the Council”.
The Czech minister told his colleagues that he intended to make it easier to use videoconferencing to speed up cross-border judicial proceedings and, so, reduce costs. “A guide will be drafted during the Czech Presidency, containing a list of the countries and places where videoconferencing is possible. We intend to make this guide available to all EU member states,” Pospíšil said. Several member states felt that this was a somewhat unrealistic proposal insofar as some courts in Europe did not even have computers. “It's a good idea, but one that can only be used on a voluntary basis and in full realisation of problems arising from the equipment,” Frieden pointed out. “The European Commission expects states to submit requests for disbursement of funds,” said Director General of DG Justice, Freedom and Security Jonathan Faull. “We will shortly submit an official request on behalf of the Presidency,” Pospíšil said. The Czech Presidency will hold a ministerial conference on e-justice in Prague on 17-18 February. (B.C./transl.rt)