Ukraine Establishes Cooperation With Eurojust

KYIV, Ukraine, December 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukraine and the judicial cooperation body of the EU initialed the draft of the cooperation agreement, informs the press service of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Such agreement would provide for prompt information exchange, strategic coordination while countering cross-border crime, and the facilitation of evidence gathering, noted the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Oleksandr Lavrynovych.

The arrangement resulted from the official visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Eurojust headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. At the meeting in The Hague both parties incorporated existing suggestions in the draft agreement and finalized the text of the document.

Eurojust offers vast opportunities for Ukraine, reckoned Minister Lavrynovych. He said that future cooperation with Eurojust would increase the efficacy of the Ukrainian authorities responsible for investigation of transnational grave offences. Oleksandr Lavrynovych emphasized that after the agreement with Eurojust is ratified Ukraine would have an opportunity to establish legal basis for collaboration with the judicial cooperation body of the EU.

Last year Eurojust reconfirmed that the signing of cooperation agreements with Ukraine, Lichtenstein and Russia was its priority for operational collaboration. Moreover, Ukraine, along with the USA and Switzerland, is on the list of Eurojust's eight most frequently requested "third" states during the period between September 1, 2008, and August 31, 2010. Eurojust employs the assistance of the so-called third states to conduct casework. "Most cases concerned facilitation of requests for judicial co-operation and co-ordination," suggested the 2010 Annual Report by Eurojust. Additionally, Ukraine made it to the list of most frequently involved in co-ordination meetings at Eurojust.

As of now, Ukraine is one of the 24 contact points of Eurojust in the non-member states. The signing of the cooperation agreement will allow for more advanced exchange of operational information, including personal data, between Ukraine and Eurojust. The data protection rules permit such level of cooperation only under cooperation agreements.

Founded nearly a decade ago, Eurojust serves as coordinative body for the authorities in the EU member states that facilitate the execution of international mutual legal assistance and the implementation of extradition requests. "Eurojust supports in any way possible the competent authorities of the Member States to render their investigations and prosecutions more effective when dealing with cross-border crime," reads the mission of Eurojust.