General overview 2020 The Justice and Home Affairs agencies’ network (JHAAN) approved its Work Plan 2020 in January and selected two thematic topics: victims of trafficking and an assessment of the JHAAN. In April 2020, COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the work of JHA agencies was introduced as a...

Cross-border cases of trafficking in human beings (THB) are complex and difficult to investigate and prosecute. They reveal the prominent role of organised criminal groups. When gaps in judicial cooperation appear it is the victims of THB who suffer. In October 2020, the European Commission noted in...

The 16th Annual Meeting of National Experts on Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) was organised by the JITs Network Secretariat in close cooperation with Eurojust and Europol on 10 November 2020, and was conducted using the Eurojust WEBEX videoconferencing tool. The meeting brought together experts...

In 2019, we supported almost 8 000 cross-border criminal investigations and helped maximize the use of EU judicial cooperation tools. Many investigations extended far beyond EU borders and involved close cooperation with other EU agencies to ensure that information was shared and links were detected...

A note for judicial practitioners on future cooperation with the United Kingdom. It is intended to provide practitioners with up-to-date and readily usable information on judicial cooperation with the UK and to contribute to ensuring business continuity despite a changing legal landscape. The Trade...

Environmental crime is the fourth-largest criminal activity in the world, growing at a rate of between 5 % and 7 % per year, according to an Interpol and UN Environment Programme estimate. This increase, combined with the organised, transnational nature of environmental crime, requires...

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interpreted in its case-law the notion of ‘issuing judicial authority’ under Article 6(1) of the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender procedures between the Member States (EAW FD). In 2019, the CJEU clarified in several...

With the evolution of the security threat and the changing complexity of terrorist attacks and terrorist activities targeting EU Member States, it has become evident that an efficient judicial response to terrorism often reaches beyond a single jurisdiction. To address challenges efficiently...

Background and purpose The new Regulation on the Mutual Recognition of Freezing and Confiscation Orders (hereinafter the 'Regulation') shall apply as of 19 December 2020. The Regulation introduces a completely new legal framework in the EU governing the area of judicial cooperation in the field of...

In its 2016 Petruhhin judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) introduced specific obligations for Member States that do not extradite their own nationals and receive an extradition request for the prosecution of an EU citizen who is a national of another Member State and has...