Commission welcomes political provisional agreement on transfer of criminal proceedings between Member States

The Commission welcomes the political provisional agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council on the Regulation on the transfer of proceedings in criminal matters, as proposed by the Commission on 5 April 2023. As crimes of cross-border nature are on the rise, several Member States frequently end up having jurisdiction to prosecute the same case. By establishing a set of measures to enable the transfer of criminal proceedings to the Member State best-placed to prosecute, this new Regulation will help prevent inefficient duplication of proceedings and avoid cases of impunity where surrender under a European arrest warrant is refused. These rules encompass common criteria for requesting a transfer, a time limit for the decision on the transfer, an exhaustive list of grounds for refusing a transfer request, as well as obligations with respect to the rights of suspects, accused persons and victims, including their right to an effective legal remedy against the decision accepting a transfer.

Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said: “Criminality knows no borders, and neither should justice. Different criminal proceedings for the same case duplicate work unnecessarily, hinder the effectiveness of prosecution, and can threaten the fundamental right not to be prosecuted twice for the same offence. By enabling a swift transfer of criminal proceedings, which duly takes into account the rights of the individuals concerned, we are strengthening both the effectiveness and fairness of our justice systems.”