12.5: Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters

Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters was originally part of the Maastricht Treaty's intergovernmental 3^rd pillar. It became, exclusively, the EU's 3^rd pillar under the Amsterdam Treaty.

It functions through a system of centralised bodies, including EUROPOL, and European-wide databases. It aims to fight criminal activity that crosses the borders between and beyond the EU.

Key developments include:

The setting up three of Agencies:

European Police Office (EUROPOL) (1992) at The Hague in the Netherlands. Europol was set up to facilitate cooperation between police forces of member states in order to combat serious international crime.
The European Police College (CEPOL) (2000) at Bramshill in the UK. CEPOL's function is to train senior police officers.
Eurojust (The European Body for the Enhancement of Judicial Cooperation) (2002) at The Hague in the Netherlands. Its role is "facilitating the proper coordination of national prosecution authorities and...supporting criminal investigations in organised crime cases...as well as...cooperating closely with the European Judicial Network (EJN)." The EJN is a "network of judicial contact points...between the member states" and its secretariat is located inside the secretariat of Eurojust.

The European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The EAW is intended to speed up extradition procedures within the EU for serious criminal matters. It is an order that is issued by a judicial authority in one member state and directly recognised and enforced in another member state. The EEW is based, as is other policy in this area, on the principle of mutual recognition of different legal codes. It came into force in 2004.
The European Evidence Warrant (EEW). Following the EAW the Commission proposed a European Evidence Warrant (EEW), an order that would be issued by a judicial authority and recognized in another, to make it easier for member states to obtain information from each other in criminal matters. It was approved in 2006.
The creation of the post of the European Public Prosecutor, with powers to arrest, deport and imprison suspects, is part of the Constitution.

RL, February 2007