OLAF is the only Community body whose tasks include administrative investigations on behaviour detrimental to the financial interests of the EU that may have “criminal” and “trans-national” aspects simultaneously. Trans-national European crime requires new solutions to be found in what is commonly referred to as European criminal law. For this reason the protection of financial interests has been the motor of the emerging European criminal law and continues to play a vital role.1 Even before the existence of OLAF, its predecessor, the unit charged with the protection of the financial interests within the Commission (UCLAF), put forward first instruments on… Read more

I. The Legal Status of the Single Currency The international law fully recognises the monetary sovereignty of the States and their exclusive competence to define their currency. This definition is binding on any person who chooses to use a specific currency, under the terms of the “lex monetae” or monetary law. The jurisprudence of the international jurisdictions (in particular, the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague,1 in a judgement of 12 July 1929,2 allows conclusion of the universal principle that a State is entitled to regulate its own currency. This is also reflected in recital 8 of Council… Read more

I. Institutional and Legal Framework of OLAF Investigations The first cases after the establishment of OLAF confirmed and clarified its status and function and stipulated that the requirement of independence is closely related to strict observance of the Community law. In the Rothley1 case, the European courts agreed that the European Parliament Decision concerning the terms and conditions for internal investigations2 applies to objectively defined situations and has legal effects with respect to categories of persons envisaged generally and in the abstract, i.e. present or future Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), but also all the Parliament's staff members, whether… Read more

In case T-48/05, the European Court of First Instance (CFI) ruled on an application for compensation for material and non-material damage sustained as a consequence of errors alleged to have been committed by the European Commission and OLAF in investigating the “Eurostat” case. The CFI ordered the European Commission to pay Mr. Yves Franchet and Mr. Daniel Byk the sum of 56 000 Euros and ordered the Commission to pay the costs.1 The Commission decided not to appeal. Three aspects of the ruling that are highlighted in this article relate to the presumption of innocence (I below), the right of… Read more

I. General Framework 1. Introduction The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is merely an administrative investigative service but its work extends into a particularly sensitive area: criminal justice. OLAF is to forward to the judicial authorities of the Member State concerned information obtained by the Office during internal investigations into matters liable to result in criminal proceedings.1 Reports drawn up by OLAF on the basis of its investigations constitute admissible evidence in judicial proceedings in the same way and under the same conditions as administrative reports drawn up by national administrative inspectors.2 Under these circumstances, it is obvious that OLAF’s communication… Read more