The Council of Ministers of Justice adopted the Conclusions on combating impunity for crimes committed in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine:

“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been going on for more than nine months. War crimes committed in Ukraine are being exposed on a daily basis. As the situation drags on, we should do everything we can to help Ukraine and its authorities. In this context, the authorities of various Member States have provided forensic assistance to support the investigation of war crimes by the Ukrainian authorities and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. I have called on my colleagues to continue to provide such assistance. Preferably through the International Criminal Court, which is doing an excellent job in coordinating this assistance,” Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek said.

The Council of Ministers also approved the Conclusions on strengthening the capacity of the European Judicial Network to fight cybercrime. Their aim is to strengthen this judicial network, in particular by establishing a permanent secretariat to enable the network to meet the needs and expectations of professionals working in the field of cybercrime.

Electronic evidence

At today’s meeting, the Czech Presidency informed the other ministers that an overall preliminary agreement had been reached with the European Parliament on the entire legislative package on electronic evidence. "I am very pleased that we have succeeded in negotiating this preliminary agreement. At the same time, I am convinced that we have finally succeeded in laying the foundations for a modern system for the transmission of electronic evidence. We will have an open path to agreements in this field with our partners, for example with the USA," Pavel Blažek said.

The Council today also approved three general approaches. These general approaches mean that the Council has agreed on a position that will form the basis for negotiations with the European Parliament, which will be led by the incoming Swedish Presidency.

Environmental protection through criminal law

"Today, thanks to this Council meeting, we have taken another step towards obtaining a legal instrument to protect the environment. We need effective sanctions against individuals and organisations that profit from activities that threaten our health and damage our ecosystems. Protecting the environment is one of the major challenges of our generation. Both in Europe and globally," Pavel Blažek said.

Regulation and Directive on the digitalisation of judicial cooperation

These two rules are primarily aimed at achieving faster, cheaper, safer and more reliable communication between competent authorities and between competent authorities and natural and legal persons. This will also increase legal certainty, improve citizen access to justice and make court proceedings more efficient. In cross-border proceedings within the EU, persons and their legal representatives will be able to communicate electronically with the competent authorities through a European electronic access point set up on the European e-Justice portal.

The ministers also discussed some aspects of the proposal for a Directive on asset recovery and confiscation, stressing the need to ensure adequate procedural safeguards for persons who are not themselves being prosecuted but who are affected by some of the measures under the Directive.

In the case of the proposal for a Directive on protecting persons who engage in public participation (SLAPP), ministers debated the need to balance the requirement to ensure freedom of speech by sanctioning strategic lawsuits while ensuring access to justice for legitimate lawsuits.

On the occasion of the last formal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council under the Czech Presidency, Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek thanked all his colleagues for the tremendous efforts they had made in coordinating many areas of joint work during this half-year. This was followed by the symbolic handover of the Presidency, or rather the judicial gavel, to Sweden.

"It has been an honour and a pleasure to chair the Council during our Presidency. Sweden will now take up the baton and I hope that the Swedish Presidency will be a great success. I would like to thank all my colleagues for their support over these six months. I think we have done a very good job, but it would definitely not have been possible without their help and support. We have presided over Europe at a very difficult time. We have faced an unprecedented confluence of many negative security and prosperity phenomena. I can say with a clear conscience that we have met these challenges with honour," Pavel Blažek concluded.