On 1 December 2021, the European Commission adopted a new initiative establishing a collaboration platform to support the functioning of Joint Investigation Teams (JITs). The Commission noted that JITs, which are set up by two or more States for specific criminal investigations with a cross-border impact and for a limited period of time, have been experiencing a number of technical difficulties rendering them less efficient. One specific problem concerns how to ensure the secure electronic exchange of information and evidence and secure electronic communication with other JIT members and JIT participants (such as Eurojust, Europol, and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)).

In order to solve these issues, the Commission proposes the establishment of a dedicated IT platform to support the functioning of JITs, which will be accessible to all actors involved in JIT proceedings and have the following features:

• A secure, untraceable communication stored locally on the devices of the users, including a communication tool offering an instant messaging system, a chat feature, audio/videoconferencing, and a function replacing standard emails;
• An upload/download system designed to ensure the efficient exchange of information and evidence, including large files – it will store the data centrally only for the limited time needed to technically transfer the data;
• An advanced logging mechanism to track the trail of “who did what and when” for all evidence shared through the platform, in this way supporting the need to ensure the admissibility of evidence before a court.

The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) will be in charge of the design, development, technical management, and maintenance of the JIT collaboration platform. The proposal on the JIT collaboration platform is part of a larger package on the digitalisation of justice. For the other initiatives, see also the contribution by EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, published on the eucrim website on 22 December 2021 .