INTRODUCTION

A. JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

Cooperation in the field of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) among the Member States of the European Union has been going on for almost three decades.

With the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on 1st November 1993, JHA cooperation - informal and intergovernmental up to that time - acquired a more formal status and became part of the broader cooperation within the European Union.

The Amsterdam Treaty of 1st May 1999 further promoted JHA cooperation by reinforcing the role of the Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice and by transforming part of the JHA cooperation from intergovernmental cooperation into cooperation within the Community.

As a result, nowadays, JHA cooperation among the Member States of the European Union takes either the form of intergovernmental cooperation, on the basis of the provisions of Section VI of the Treaty on the European Union referring to police cooperation and judicial cooperation on criminal matters, or the form of cooperation within the Community, on the basis of Section IV of the Treaty on the European Community referring to visas, asylum, immigration, and other policies related to the free movement of persons, including judicial cooperation on civil matters.

Amendments to the Treaty concerning JHA cooperation are included in the Treaty of Nice of 26th February 2001, whose entry into force has been scheduled for 1st February 2003.

At present, one of the main objectives of the European Union - as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union - is for the Union to become an area of freedom, security and justice, ensuring the free movement of persons and taking the necessary measures as to the control of its external borders, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combatting of crime. Decisive, to that end, was the role of the European Council in Tampere in October 1999 which adopted a number of political guidelines and objectives on JHA cooperation within the European Union.

B. JUDICIAL COOPERATION IN CRIMINAL MATTERS

Judicial cooperation in criminal matters develops primarily among the competent authorities of the Member States - as well as through EUROJUST (see below) - and comprises, among others, mutual judicial cooperation in criminal matters, mutual recognition of judgments and the approximation of the criminal laws of the Member States, including penalties in the fields of organized crime, terrorism and drug trafficking.

Judicial cooperation in criminal matters is realised through the adoption of :
a) common positions determining the approach of the European Union with regard to specific matters, b) framework decisions defining the approximation of legislative and regulating provisions of the Member States, c) decisions and d) conventions.
Framework decisions are binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon Member States; however, the latter are left the choice of the particular means for its achievement. The decisions, as legal acts, do not apply directly and they are supplemented by implementation measures. The conventions constitute typical acts of international law and have to be ratified by the National Parliaments of the fifteen Member States. With the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the conventions also enter into force - unless otherwise provided - once approved by half the Member States.

C. JUDICIAL COOPERATION IN CIVIL MATTERS

Judicial cooperation in civil matters refers to the necessary measures for the smooth operation of the internal market and includes, among others: a) the improvement and simplification of the procedure of cross-border service or of the notice of judicial and extra-judicial acts, the cooperation during evidence proceedings and the recognition and execution of decisions on civil and commercial cases, b) the promotion of compatibility of the rules applied by Member States with regard to the conflict between laws and jurisdiction, and c) the relief of obstacles for the smooth carrying out of civil trials. The results achieved so far include the cooperation in international jurisdiction, recognition and execution of decisions on civil and commercial matters, provisions on bankruptcy, the setting up of a European Judicial Network on civil matters (see below), provisions on evidence proceedings on civil and commercial cases, as well as rules on the benefit of poverty in cross-border cases. Cooperation in this field takes the form of the adoption of regulations (of general application, binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States), directives (binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon the Member State to whom they are addressed, though the national authorities are left the choice of form and methods to achieve their objectives), and decisions (binding in their entirety upon those to whom they are addressed).

D. EUROPEAN JUDICIAL NETWORK ON CRIMINAL MATTERS

The European Judicial Network was set up by a Council Decision on 29th June 1998 with the aim of enhancing mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Member States have appointed representatives of their national authorities, working on international judicial cooperation, as contact points for the exchange of information, so as to deal with certain serious forms of crime, mainly organised crime, in a fast and effective way.

E. EUROPEAN JUDICIAL NETWORK ON CIVIL MATTERS

In May 2001, the Council of the European Union adopted a Decision on the setting up of the European Judicial Network on civil matters. The Network consists of one or more contact points in each Member State belonging to different authorities. Its task is to facilitate judicial cooperation among Member States. The operation of a Website, addressed to the public, is pending at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/. The Network began its operation on 4th December 2002.

F. EUROJUST

Eurojust, which was set up by a Council Decision on 28th February 2002 with the aim of reinforcing the combat against serious forms of organised crime, is composed of one member (judge, prosecutor) from each Member State detached to the seat of Eurojust in The Hague. Its objectives are to promote and improve coordination among competent authorities with regard to investigation and prosecution procedures within the territory of Member States, in the cases where at least two Member States are involved, as well as to assist, in every possible way, the authorities in their work.

Eurojust performs its duties either through its national members or as a body and may invite the competent authorities of the Member States to consider the possibility of carrying out prosecutions and setting up joint investigative teams. Its extra value derives from the existence of a centralised structure, enabling the identification of legal obstacles and delays in the provision of mutual legal assistance and coordinating investigations on cases of serious organised crime which are already under way.