Eurojust President Mr Ladislav Hamran has today given the European ministers in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council an update on the response of the Agency to the COVID-19 crisis. He emphasised that Eurojust is ensuring full business continuity and maintaining its assistance to Member States with their requests for judicial cross-border cooperation. Furthermore, Mr Hamran stressed how the current crisis confirms the need to further digitalise the way in which prosecutors and judges across the EU work together.

Mr Hamran stated: 'Closed borders and lockdowns don't stop criminals. They adapt quickly, and this is what we are witnessing now. Eurojust stands ready, as always, to combat cross-border crime regardless of the circumstances. This pandemic reinforces our conviction that the fight against organised crime calls for a profound digitalisation of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It is solely because of digital solutions, such as videoconferencing and secure connections for information exchange, that Eurojust has been able to remain operational in the past months.'

Eurojust fully supports the European Commission's ambition to introduce a system of digital criminal justice across the EU, for which Justice Commissioner Mr Didier Reynders will table concrete proposals later this year. 

During his address to the JHA Council meeting, Mr Hamran gave the European ministers an overview of the measures Eurojust has taken to assist Member States in the current crisis, highlighting new cases related to COVID-19 and describing some of the recurring legal challenges.

The Council of Ministers was recently provided with an update, indicating that there are currently 110 COVID-19-related cases registered at Eurojust. The total number of new cases registered at Eurojust last month was 189, which underpins that despite lockdowns in Member States criminal networks are continuing to operate across borders.

Click here for more information on Eurojust measures and actions related to Covid-19.

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