The EU-funded EuroMed Justice IV Project organised the second session of its Expert Group in Criminal Matters (CrimEx) from 8 to 11 May in Maastricht, The Netherlands, bringing together justice practitioners in criminal matters from seven Southern Mediterranean Partner Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia – and European and international experts to discuss coordination at national level as a stepping stone towards cross-border cooperation.

During the meeting, the CrimEx members discussed, among other matters, models of national coordination among different authorities and agencies as a stepping stone towards regional, south-south and north-south judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Challenges facing their national responses to transnational crime were identified and best practices in this field were shared.

The session debating national platforms developed a roadmap, which will guide the Southern Partner Countries specifically on creating platforms for coordination at national level that should be multilayered, multi-jurisdictional and involve multiple agencies fighting cross-border crime.

CrimEx members also continued work on the gaps and legal analyses, the elaboration of the Handbook on Judicial and Law Enforcement Cooperation in Criminal Matters, and the updated EuroMed Fiches (based on the European Judicial Network’s Fiches Belges).

The CrimEx group will meet over a period of two years (2017 and 2018) and functions as a regional forum devoted to Euro-Mediterranean cooperation on criminal justice.

EuroMed Justice IV (2016-2018) aims to contribute to the development of a Euro-Mediterranean area of cooperation in the field of justice and to the development of effective, efficient and democratic justice systems which protect and promote human rights.

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Press release

EuroMed Justice website