98/428/JHA: Joint Action of 29 June 1998 adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the creation of a European Judicial Network
Date: 1998-06-29
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: communications systems, information network, joint action, judicial cooperation, legal system, telecommunications

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JOINT ACTION

of 29 June 1998

adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European
Union, on the creation of a European Judicial Network

(98/428/JHA)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAS ADOPTED THIS JOINT ACTION:

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular K.3(2)(b) thereof,

TITLE I

Having regard to the initiative taken by the Kingdom of
Belgium,

PRINCIPLES OF

THE
NETWORK

EUROPEAN JUDICIAL

Having regard to the Action Plan to combat organised
crime approved by the European Council in Amsterdam
on 17 June 1997, and in particular Recommendation No
21 thereof,

Bearing in mind the need for coordination between this
initiative and the implementation of Recommendation
No 19 in that Action Plan,

Taking into account the conclusions of the seminars on
‘The European judicial network and organised crime',
held in Brussels from 8 to 10 May 1996 and on 19 and 20
June 1997, which were organised by the Belgian Ministry
of Justice within the framework of a programme partly
financed by the European Union, and also of the proceed-
ings of
the European Parliament and the European
Commission,

Bearing in mind the Joint Action 96/277/JHA of 22
April 1996 concerning a framework for the exchange of
liaison magistrates
cooperation
to improve
between the Member States of the European Union (1),

judicial

Whereas it is necessary to make further improvements to
judicial cooperation between the Member States of the
European Union, particularly in combating forms of
serious crime often perpetrated by actual, in most cases
transnational, organisations;

Whereas effective improvement of judicial cooperation
between the Member States requires the adoption of
structural measures at European Union level to enable the
appropriate direct contacts to be set up between judicial
authorities and other authorities responsible for judicial
cooperation and judicial action against forms of serious
crime, within Member States;

Whereas this Joint Action is without prejudice to existing
conventions and agreements, in particular the European
Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of
20 April 1959,

(1) OJ L 105, 27. 4. 1996, p. 1.

Article 1

Creation

A network of
judicial contact points shall be set up
between the Member States, hereinafter referred to as ‘the
European Judicial Network'.

Article 2

Composition

The European Judicial Network shall be made up,
1.
taking into account the constitutional rules, legal tradi-
tions and internal structure of each Member State, of the
central authorities responsible for international judicial
cooperation and the judicial or other competent author-
ities with specific responsibilities within the context of
international cooperation, both generally and for certain
forms of serious crime, such as organised crime, corrup-
tion, drug-trafficking or terrorism.

2. One or more contact points of each Member State
shall be established in accordance with its internal rules
and internal division of responsibilities, taking care to
ensure effective coverage of the whole of its territory and
of all forms of serious crime.

3.
Each Member State shall ensure that its contact point
or points have an adequate knowledge of a language of
the European Union other
than its own national
language, bearing in mind the need to be able to com-
municate with the contact points in the other Member
States.

4. Where the liaison magistrates referred to in Joint
to those
Action 96/277/JHA have duties analogous
assigned by Article 4 to the contact points, they may be
linked to the European Judicial Network by the Member
State appointing the liaison magistrate in each case, in
accordance with the procedures to be laid down by that
State.

The Commission shall designate a contact point for

5.
those areas falling within its sphere of competence.

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Article 3

Manner of operation of the network

The European Judicial Network shall operate in partic-
ular in the following three ways:

(a)

it shall
facilitate the establishment of appropriate
contacts between the contact points in the various
Member States in order to carry out the functions laid
down in Article 4;

(b) it shall organise periodic meetings of the Member
States’ representatives in accordance with the pro-
cedures laid down in Articles 5, 6 and 7;

(c)

it shall constantly provide a certain amount of up-to-
date background information, notably by means of an
appropriate telecommunications network, under the
procedures laid down in Articles 8, 9 and 10.

TITLE II

CONTACTS WITHIN THE NETWORK

Article 4

Functions of contact points

1.
The contact points shall be active intermediaries
with the task of facilitating judicial cooperation between
Member States, particularly in action to combat forms of
serious crime. They shall be available to enable local
judicial authorities and other competent authorities in
their own country, contact points in the other countries
and local judicial and other competent authorities in the
other countries to establish the most appropriate direct
contacts.

They may if necessary travel to meet other Member States’
contact points, on the basis of an agreement between the
administrations concerned.

2.
The contract points shall provide the legal and prac-
tical information necessary to the local judicial authorities
in their own country, to the contact points in the other
countries and to the local judicial authorities in the other
countries to enable them to prepare an effective request
for judicial cooperation or to improve judicial cooperation
in general.

3.
They shall improve coordination of judicial coopera-
tion in cases where a series of requests from the local
judicial authorities in a Member State necessitates co-
ordinated action in another Member State.

(a)

to allow the contact points to get to know each other
and exchange experience, particularly concerning the
operation of the network;

(b) to provide a forum for discussion of practical and legal
problems encountered by the Member States in the
context of
in particular with
regard to the implementation of measures adopted by
the European Union.

judicial cooperation,

The relevant experience acquired within the Euro-
2.
pean Judicial Network shall be passed on to the
competent European Union working parties to serve as a
basis for discussion of possible legislative changes and
practical improvements in the area of international judi-
cial cooperation.

Article 6

Frequency of meetings

The European Judicial Network shall

1.
first meet
within three months following the entry into force of this
Joint Action.

2.
The European Judicial Network shall thereafter meet
periodically on an ad hoc basis, as its members feel the
need, at the invitation of the Presidency of the Council,
the Member States’
which shall also take account of
wishes for the Network to meet.

Article 7

Venue of meetings

1. Meetings shall in principle be held on the premises
of the Council in Brussels, in acccordance with the provi-
sions laid down in the Council’s Rules of Procedure.

2. However, alternative meetings in the Member States
should be contemplated, to enable the contact points of
all the Member States to meet authorities of the host State
other than its contact points and visit specific bodies in
that State with responsibilities in the context of inter-
national
judicial cooperation or of combating certain
forms of serious crime.

TITLE IV

INFORMATION AVAILABLE WITHIN THE EURO-
PEAN JUDICIAL NETWORK

TITLE III

Article 8

PERIODIC MEETINGS OF THE EUROPEAN JUDICIAL
NETWORK

Content of the information disseminated within the
European Judicial Network

Article 5

Purpose of the periodic meetings

The aims of the periodic meetings of the European

1.
Judicial Network shall be as follows:

The contact points must have permanent access to the
following four types of information:

1. full details of the contact points in each Member State
with, where necessary, an explanation of their respons-
ibilities at national level;

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2. a simplified list of the judicial authorities and a dir-
ectory of the local authorities in each Member State;

3. concise legal and practical information concerning the
judicial and procedural systems in the 15 Member
States;

4. the texts of the relevant legal

instruments and, for
conventions currently in force, the texts of declarations
and reservations.

Article 9

Updating of information

1.
The information distributed within the European
Judicial Network must without fail be constantly updated.

2.
It shall be each Member State’s individual respons-
ibility to check the accuracy of the data contained in the
system and to inform the Council immediately as soon as
data on one of the four points referred to in Article 8
need to be amended.

The General Secretariat of

the Council shall be
3.
responsible for the administration of the Network set up
under this Joint Action. In particular, it shall be res-
ponsible for making the information referred to in Article
8 available to members of the European Judicial Network
and for keeping the information required for the proper
functioning of the Network constantly updated.

TITLE VI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 11

Territorial application

As regards the United Kingdom, the provisions of this
Joint Action shall apply to the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and
the Isle of Man.

Article 12

Assessment of the operation of the European Judi-
cial Network

The Council shall carry out an initial assessment of the
operation of the European Judicial Network at the close
of the start-up phase, which shall end one year after the
entry into force of this Joint Action.

Thereafter the Council shall, every three years on the
Presidency’s initiative, carry out an assessment for the
operation of the European Judicial Network on the basis
of a report drawn up by the Network.

When the first trienial report is examined, the Council
shall look at the postion and role that the Network might
fulfil vis-(cid:133)-vis Europol, on the basis of experience of the
operation of the network and of the development of Euro-
pol’s powers.

TITLE V

Article 13

Entry into force

TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

This Joint Action shall enter into force one month after
the date of its publication in the Official Journal.

Article 10

Report concerning a telecommunications system

1. Within six months of the entry into force of this
Joint Action, the Council shall examine, on the basis of a
report from the Presidency, drawn up after consultation of
the European Judicial Network, whether the Network
should be linked by a telecommunications network.

The Council shall lay down the details of the config-
2.
uration of the telecommunications system in a decision
taken by a qualified majority, in accordance with Article
K.3(2)(b) of the Treaty on European Union.

Article 14

Publication

The Joint Action shall be published in the Official
Journal.

Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1998.

For the Council

The President

R. COOK

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ANNEX

COUNCIL DECLARATION

The Council declares that Article 11 of the Joint Action on the creation of a European Judicial
Network is without prejudice to the territorial application of other instruments.