The Vice-President of the European Commission, Ms Vera Jourová, visited the Agency today to discuss Eurojust's work towards accountability for Ukraine. Since the onset of the Russian invasion, Eurojust has been actively supporting the international efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine. Today's talks between Ms Jourová and Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran focused on the upcoming International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) and the Agency's contributions to the EU Freeze and Seize Task Force.
Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran stated: 'Today's visit of Vice-President Jourová confirms the strong support of the Commission for Eurojust's work related to the war in Ukraine. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss how the EU is not only at the forefront of the accountability efforts, but also plays a leading role in other relevant areas such as the fight against disinformation stemming from Russian propaganda. It is the sum of all these actions that makes a genuine difference in defending the rule of law.'
European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourová stated: 'The Commission fully supports Eurojust in its pivotal role to help ensuring accountability in the Russian war against Ukraine. Eurojust was key in setting up a joint investigation team to support evidence gathering on war crimes, exchange and transmission. Eurojust is on the right track to become a real hub for judicial cooperation and for the investigation of war crimes.'
Within a month of the start of the war in Ukraine, Eurojust actively supported the setting up of a joint investigation team (JIT) by the Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian authorities on 25 March 2022. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court became a participant in the JIT on 25 April 2022. Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia joined the JIT on 30 May 2022, with Romania becoming a member on 13 October 2022.
On 2 February 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the establishment of an International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The ICPA will be based at Eurojust in The Hague as part of the existing support structure for the JIT. This will allow for optimal alignment between the existing investigations into core international crimes and the investigation into the crime of aggression in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Eurojust is also actively participating in the EU Freeze and Seize Task Force, which was set up by the Commission in March 2022 to ensure the efficient implementation of EU sanctions against listed Russian and Belarussian oligarchs across the EU. Eurojust provides operational support to the Task Force by coordinating Member States' enforcement of Union sanctions through criminal law, for example by regularly cross-checking the list of individuals and companies sanctioned by the EU against the data on existing cases handled by the Agency.
On 23 February 2023, Eurojust announced the start of operations of the Core International Crimes Evidence Database (CICED), a tailor-made judicial database to preserve, store and analyse evidence of core international crimes in a secure mode. CICED's centralised approach will allow Eurojust to facilitate the exchange of key evidence, identify the systemic actions behind individual offences, advise on prosecution strategies, and prepare thematic analysis and reports on specific aspects of investigations into core international crimes, such as sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
Source: EMM/ EUROJUST