Eurojust and COVID-19

Operational continuity

• Eurojust continued its operations and delivered undiminished support to the national authorities in the Member States, including coordination meetings (most of which were held via videoconference), coordination centres and joint investigation teams. Among the thousands of case opened by the Agency, several were directly related to the COVID-19 crisis.
• In some of these cases, Member States asked Eurojust’s support in specific COVID-19-related offences such as fraud related to the selling of face masks. In other cases, Eurojust has intervened to facilitate the execution of judicial cooperation instruments, such as European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) and European Investigation Orders (EIOs), impacted by the application of the COVID-19-related measures.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters: Analysis of Eurojust Casework

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Guidance support

• To further support practitioners, in April 2020, the Council gave a mandate to Eurojust and the European Judicial Network (EJN) to prepare a compilation of all information collected on the impact on judicial cooperation in criminal matters of measures taken in the Member States, Iceland and Norway to combat the spread of COVID-19. The report analysed the main practical and legal issues arising from the current COVID-19 crisis as reported by the national authorities. This compilation was updated at least every two weeks and published as a Council document [LIMITE].
• The COVID-19 crisis had a considerable impact on the application of all judicial cooperation instruments. The execution of judicial cooperation requests that require cross-border movement or physical presence of persons – such as EAWs and the extradition and transfer of sentenced persons – had been most affected. This was mainly caused by the closure of borders and cancellation of flights.
• The restriction of physical movement led most States to rely on alternative digital solutions, such as email or videoconferencing, for the execution of requests for judicial cooperation. In this way, for example, the hearing of persons could take place via a videoconference. Requests and procedural documents could be transmitted electronically. The COVID-19 crisis has shown even more clearly that digitalising the way investigators, prosecutors and judges work together is the future of judicial cooperation in criminal matters for a safe and just Europe.
• Eurojust also developed Guidelines on Operational Support during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate the execution of its core business activities during the physical restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. The guidelines covered, in particular, the use of secure videoconferencing systems to allow prosecutors to still meet under the auspices of Eurojust and discuss cooperation strategies on common cases during the pandemic.
• In May 2021, Eurojust published a report on the impact of COVID-19 on its casework, based on the analysis of specific cases registered during the period from April 2020 to 30 June 2020.

Events and activities

• Eurojust and its partners in the Justice and Home Affairs agencies’ network (JHAAN) published a joint paper on the individual and joint efforts by the nine EU agencies active in the field of freedom, security and justice to deal with the impact of COVID-19. The joint paper was first published in 2020, and updated in 2021. The present publication represents the paper’s second update, covering the period from January 2020 to April 2022.
• Eurojust supported the Commission in analysing business needs concerning the digitalisation of judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Digital Criminal Justice). As the pandemic has confirmed, it is crucial to establish a digital infrastructure that enables the fast and secure exchange of information and evidence between prosecutors across Europe.
• In spite of the pandemic, Eurojust successfully launched the Focus Group on Migrant Smuggling to provide a platform for prosecutors to exchange good practice and discuss issues on this topic.
• Eurojust ensured full operational continuity in the work of the hosted networks (European Judicial Network, JITs Network, Genocide Network and European Judicial Cybercrime Network) during the COVID-19 crisis.
• As the 2020 chair of the Justice and Home Affairs agencies’ network (JHAAN), Eurojust organised virtual meetings and coordinated several joint publications related to the operational continuity during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Eurojust published several reports with detailed analyses and conclusions based on its casework, such as the Memorandum on Battlefield Evidence, the Report on Eurojust’s casework in the field of the European Investigation Order, the Report on national legislation and Eurojust casework analysis on sham marriages, and the report Challenges and best practice from Eurojust’s casework in the area of cybercrime.
• Eurojust organised virtual expert workshops on topics such as right-wing extremism and terrorism, and sham marriages. The aim of these workshops was to provide insights into legal and operational challenges in investigating and prosecuting such offences, and drawing lessons and best practice from concrete case examples.

Cross-border crimes related to the COVID-19 crisis

• Eurojust supported several cases that presented issues related to the COVID-19 crisis. Travel restrictions and risks presented challenges to judicial cooperation. Organised crime groups adapted quickly to changing environments and to technological progress, and they managed to profit from the circumstances of the pandemic in various areas. Coordinated action by law enforcement and judicial actors, however, stopped crimes such as ransomware attacks against hospitals.