
Mr Christopher Williams has this week taken up his duties as new Liaison Prosecutor (LP) for the United Kingdom (UK) at Eurojust. He replaces Ms Samantha Shallow, who was previously National Member and later LP for the UK at the Agency. Mr Williams is a senior legal expert with long-standing experience as a defence lawyer and, later, as a prosecutor dealing with cross-border cooperation and fraud cases.
Mr Christopher Williams said: "I am excited, and feel privileged, to be joining the UK desk as the Liaison Prosecutor at Eurojust. Having prosecuted cases in the UK with assistance from Eurojust, I am aware of the fantastic work undertaken by my colleagues and I look forward to building new relationships with our legal and Judicial partners."
The new LP for the UK was previously a prosecutor within the Specialist Fraud Division of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), before being promoted to Unit Head in 2018, handling major international fraud cases. He joined the same division of the CPS in 2015, dealing with Letters of Request and attending various coordination meetings at Eurojust. Last year, he represented the CPS in the GLOBE networking group of the United Nations during conferences in Austria and Spain on international intellectual property crime.
Before working for the CPS, in 2003 Mr Williams joined a private law company and obtained higher rights of audience in 2009, enabling him to appear in all criminal courts in England and Wales. He regularly represented defendants in the Crown Court and was involved in two cases brought before the House of Lords, one of which progressed to the European Court of Human Rights. Mr Williams graduated in molecular biology from Manchester University in 2000, before undertaking further studies and graduating in law in 2002.
The new LP for the UK will head a team of five at Eurojust. The UK has had an LP at the Agency since 2021 and signed a Working Arrangement with Eurojust in December last year. Currently, 10 third countries have Liaison Prosecutors at Eurojust: Albania, Georgia, Montenegro, North-Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom.