On 9 November 2020, Eurojust published a report on national legislation and an analysis of Eurojust casework on sham marriages. As sham marriages often appear as isolated acts, the report wishes to raise the awareness of judicial practitioners regarding this low-risk/high-value criminal activity. It identifies the main features of sham marriage cases, highlights the legal challenges and specific obstacles involved, analyses how judicial tools and instruments are applied, and provides an overview of best practices and the main lessons learned.

The report sets out several recommendations, inter alia:

• The need to harmonize national legislation governing sham marriages in order to facilitate mutual legal assistance measures;
• The need to make use of Joint Investigation Teams to investigate sham marriage cases;
• The need to involve Eurojust in order to better identify the links between the different criminal activities, to facilitate the investigations, to promote coordination, and to work out a joint prosecutorial strategy.

Lastly, the report recommends applying a comprehensive approach and involving all the relevant authorities. (CR)