Trust and Action – judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Romania – Italy – Spain)

Period of Implementation: October 2018 – October 2020

The Trust and Action project focuses on two acts concerning judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, namely Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions and Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA on the application, between Member States of the European Union, of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions on supervision measures as an alternative to provisional detention.

The project activities address the implementation in Italy, Spain, and Romania, as their prison and probation systems are characterized by a high number of foreign nationals serving pre-trial detention or probation measures. The aim is to strengthen national authorities and practitioners’ knowledge and awareness in the target countries while improving cooperation between them in relation to the Framework Decisions at issue, with a potential spillover effect to other member States.

The main focus is the analysis of the causes of the Framework Decisions’ poor implementation and of the possible ways forward. The first step is the analysis of the institutional settings at the national level, so as to identify recurring blocks to cooperation and also  the existing or the possible best practices, all leading to the elaboration of a model of cooperation between the authorities of the Member States involved. Lastly, the outcomes will be spread through a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the key-features of these Framework Decisions and on their practical implementation.

The consortium gathers universities, governmental authorities and associations from Italy, Spain, and Romania, so as to provide a multi-sectoral approach and to achieve a deeper understanding of the issues at stake. The partners are the University of Turin (Italy), the Romanian Center for European Policies (Romania), Amapola Progetti (Italy), University A Coruña (Spain) and the Italian Ministry of Justice (Italy).

The Trust and Action Project is financed through the Justice Programme, JUST-AG-2017, Directorate General Justice and Consumers, European Commission.