The Belgian presidency of the Council and the negotiators of the European Parliament have reached an agreement on an EU regulatory proposal related to the transfer of proceedings in criminal matters.

The law establishes regulations governing the conditions under which criminal proceedings initiated in one Member State may be transferred to another Member State. This will be essential to ensure that the best-placed country investigates or prosecutes a criminal offence and to avoid unnecessary parallel proceedings (of the same suspect) in different EU member states. The law will therefore help to combat cross-border crime more effectively.

An effective fight against crime also means that EU countries cooperate to ensure that criminal investigation takes place in the country best placed to serve justice.

The rules on which the Council and the European Parliament agreed should also improve respect for the fundamental rights of the suspect or investigated person in the process of transferring criminal proceedings from one country to another.

In addition, the regulation should help prevent impunity in cases where a person is refused to be surrendered to another member state on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant. The transfer of procedural rules (in the country where the accused is located) would ensure that the person would still face justice.

Thus, in the future, the authorities of a country will decide to request the transfer of proceedings (to another member state) on the basis of a list of common criteria. These criteria include:

• The offence has been committed in the territory of the Member State to which the proceedings are to be transferred or most of the effects of the offence, or a substantial part of the damage has occurred in that Member State.
• One or more suspects or investigated persons are nationals or residents of that member state.
• One or more suspects or investigated persons are present in the Member State to which the proceedings are to be transferred.
• Most of the evidence relevant to the investigation or most of the relevant witnesses are located or reside in that Member State.
• There is an ongoing criminal proceeding for the same fact or other facts against the suspect or investigated person in the Member State that will be responsible for the proceeding.

The regulations also include obligations regarding the rights of suspects and defendants, as well as victims, when deciding on the transfer.

Suspects, persons under investigation and victims shall have the right to an effective legal remedy against a country’s decision to accept the transfer of criminal proceedings. They may exercise this right in the country to which the criminal proceedings are transferred.

There shall be a time limit for filing a legal remedy, not exceeding 15 days from the date of receipt of the resolution accepting the transfer of the criminal proceedings. The final decision on the legal remedy shall be made without undue delay and, if possible, within 60 days.

With the expansion of cross-border crime, criminal justice in the EU has been increasingly confronted with situations where several Member States have jurisdiction to prosecute the same case. This is especially true with regard to crimes committed by organised criminal groups. Therefore, the rules on the transfer of criminal proceedings will help to clarify which member state would be best placed to conduct criminal proceedings.

_____

Aquest apunt en català / Esta entrada en español / Post en français