In the last three years, CRPE has reviewed, together with practitioners, magistrates, lawyers, probation counselors, how three Council Framework Decisions for judicial cooperation in the EU function in practice (Council Framework Decision 909/2008, 829/2008 and 947/2008).
This included the limitations of intra-state cooperation, as well as national implementation, the obstacles met by magistrates in their proper use of these instruments, but also proposals for improving the practical framework of decision implementation. Although the legislative instruments are old, there is still little case law and only timid cooperation between member states.
CRPE has organized an online seminar in which it discussed with Romanian practitioners how they see the implementation of framework decisions, the limits on cooperation between authorities of member states, and especially what recommendations and paths can lead to their more common use.
We have reviewed the judiciary practice in three European countries with similar issues – Spain, Italy, and Romania, and our recommendations often have common denominators: extending communication, establishing universally accepted procedures regarding transfer documents, increasing the number of domestic and international training programs, and creating a universal procedure of reciprocal recognition.
The seminar is part of the project Trust and Social Rehabilitation in Action funded by the DG Justice, JUST-AG-2016, organized by CRPE together with the University of Turin (Italy), Amapola, progetti per la sicurezza delle persone e delle comunità (Italy), the Italian Ministry of Justice and the University of A Coruña (Spain).