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This article first gives a brief historic overview of the long road to the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), starting with the first ideas at the meeting of the Presidents of the European Criminal Law Associations in 1995 and worked out in …

In 2019, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) celebrated 20 years of existence. From today’s perspective, the Office could be qualified as one of the most recognisable Directorates-General of the European Commission. This is due to its unique powers, experience and the results achieved over the …

10 years ago, on 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force and brought judicial cooperation in criminal matters from the sphere of intergovernmental cooperation fully into the fold of EU law and policies. Almost all former framework decisions in the field of …

Twenty years having passed since the Conclusions of the European Council in Tampere, which proposed the principle of mutual recognition as the “cornerstone” of judicial cooperation within the Union, the author takes the opportunity to reflect on the main achievements in this sector before and …

The author gives a personal overview of how the European Union became involved in criminal law over the last 20 years. He calls to mind the main stages of the development, from the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties to the draft European constitution and the Lisbon …

Dear Readers, Cross-border cooperation between prosecuting authorities in Europe can still be a challenging effort in 2019. Within the EU, in spite of the many improved tools available to prosecutors, such as the European Investigation Order, cooperation is still very much a matter of the willingness and readiness of the requested country to cooperate and of the allocation of resources. In fact, the EU’s legal framework in this field is still based on the decision of the requested (judicial or prosecuting) authority to execute the requested activity, even when fundamental rights are not at stake. The basics of the legal…

Eurojust – the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation – was first established by Council Decision 2002/187/JHA (Eurojust Decision). It is tasked primarily with the facilitation and coordination of criminal investigations and prosecutions of transnational crime in the countries that are members of the …

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is an independent body that fights against illegal activities affecting the Union’s financial interests. It carries out investigations of an administrative nature, both within the European Union and beyond its borders.
This article outlines the legal framework within which OLAF …

In 1993, France appointed the first liaison magistrate in Italy to improve judicial cooperation between the two countries. Since then, various European, American, North African, and Middle Eastern countries have created liaison magistrate posts worldwide, but this tradition does not exist in Sub-Saharan Africa. Such …

Mutual assistance in criminal matters between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and third States, including Switzerland, is a true challenge. The need for cooperation will exist from the very first days of the EPPO’s existence, but its implementation is a problematic issue: on the …