To boost the work of joint teams where prosecutors, police and investigative judges work together across borders, the EP and the Council reached a deal on a new collaboration platform.
On Tuesday, negotiating teams representing the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on setting up a collaboration platform to support Joint Investigation Teams (JITs), cross-border teams that allow cooperation between the judicial and law enforcement authorities of several EU member states.
Currently, JIT cooperation faces obstacles in electronic communication and secure information exchange between members and other EU bodies (for example, Eurojust, Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)). To resolve these issues, the new legislative proposal foresees a collaboration platform for easy and secure sharing of information and files, including evidence.
In the negotiations, MEPs wanted to ensure the speedy adoption of the platform, which will start its operations no later than two and a half years after the legislation has entered into force, and make sure that relevant international organisations, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), can also participate in the collaboration platform.
A Joint Investigation Team launched by the authorities of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, with support from Eurojust, has been active since March 2022 to facilitate investigations into war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes in Ukraine.
“With this collaboration platform, we will facilitate cooperation between judicial authorities in Joint Investigation Teams to fight major crime in Europe. Thanks to the Parliament’s efforts, the International Criminal Court will have access to this platform, allowing for better coordination for the prosecution the gravest of crimes – including those committed in Ukraine as we speak. I am proud that we managed to advance the start of operations of this platform. Instead of prosecutors and police officers sending each other USB-sticks or e-mails with evidence, we need a safe, swift and secure platform for exchanging information in cross-border investigations, sooner rather than later!” said rapporteur Malik Azmani (Renew, NL).
The decision needs to be endorsed by the Civil Liberties Committee and the full house of the European Parliament, as well as the Council, before it can be published in the Official Journal of the EU and enter into force.
