On 9 November, the CEI-Executive Secretariat hosted the PRE-RIGHTS national training course at its Headquarters in Trieste, in collaboration with Agenfor International. Achieving a better coordination between Member States through an effective application of EU mutual recognition instruments on criminal matters is one of the main goals of the project.
Against this background, and in line with the inputs and recommendations of the Head of the District Prosecution Office in Trieste, Antonio De Nicolo, the event “How to speed up the cross-border cooperation between neighbouring public Prosecutors: EU instruments and their implementation” involved Prosecutors from Austria (Klagenfurt), Croatia (Zagreb), Italy (Trieste and Udine) and Slovenia (Koper). Discussions focused on the PROs and CONs in the application of the European Investigation Order (EIO) and the most relevant procedural tools, (the European Arrest Warrant -EAW, and the Joint Investigation Teams -JITS), especially within the cross-border dimension.
Prosecutors exchanged experiences and views for a more coordinated and harmonised application of the existing judicial cooperation instruments. Participants agreed on the urgent need for more harmonised procedures, but also for a clear definition and classification of crimes (especially, serious crimes), and on the need to reinforce direct contacts between Prosecution Offices and to increase the knowledge about different national legal systems with regard to jurisdictional competences and procedural steps. Detailed and standardised information is to be shared among prosecutors to implement common tools properly and promptly.
The outcome of the round table will contribute to feeding the PRE-RIGHTS training platform (under development), through which professionals working in the field of judicial cooperation will be able to improve and increase their capacity and knowledge for addressing issues related to criminal investigation at cross-border level.
The event also provided new ideas for improving cooperation among Member States such as the digitalisation of justice with the speeding up of procedures among prosecution offices and the transmission of standardised and digitalised data in a joint investigation; it gave participants a chance to expand networks, build partnerships and develop new joint projects – a starting point in the field of judicial cross-border cooperation.
For more info: marconato@cei.int