98/428/JHA: Joint Action of 29 June 1998 adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on EU, on the creation of a European Judicial Network - Main contents

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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

Official Journal L 191 , 07/07/1998 P. 0004 - 0007

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,

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

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

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 proceedings 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 to improve judicial cooperation between the Member States of the European Union (1),

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,

HAS ADOPTED THIS JOINT ACTION:

TITLE I

PRINCIPLES OF THE EUROPEAN JUDICIAL NETWORK

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

• 1. 

  The European Judicial Network shall be made up, taking into account the constitutional rules, legal traditions and internal structure of each Member State, of the central authorities responsible for international judicial cooperation and the judicial or other competent authorities with specific responsibilities within the context of international cooperation, both generally and for certain forms of serious crime, such as organised crime, corruption, 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 communicate with the contact points in the other Member States.

• 4. 

  Where the liaison magistrates referred to in Joint Action 96/277/JHA have duties analogous to those 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...

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