Strengthening relations between the judicial institutions in the EU and Latin America
Latin America / Cooperation between justice systems

Strengthening relations between the judicial institutions in the EU and Latin America

02 March 2021

In September 2020, EL PAcCTO organised the first Meeting between judicial institutions from Latin America and the European Union. It brought together more than 70 participants from the two regions. All agreed to strengthen coordination on data protection and the development of Joint Investigation Teams. These would be two of the priorities for the achievement of effective judicial cooperation.

The second meeting will take place in Lisbon, in June, within the framework of the Portuguese presidency of the EU. The highest representatives of the judicial institutions in Latin America and the European Union will then meet in person (AIAMP, COMJIB, Judicial Summit and Eurojust, among others). The event will focus on regional standards for electronic evidence, the bases of the expert evidence applied to environmental crimes, the principles of data protection as a fundamental right to be respected in the reciprocal international legal cooperation between all countries on both continents and the creation and electronic transmission of acts of international legal cooperation and Joint Investigation Teams (JIT).

Dialogue and work between the judicial institutions of the two regions

To prepare this appointment, the Cooperation between Justice Systems component of EL PAcCTO first has to carry out a series of online work activities with Latin America. In March, progress will be made on two key issues: judicial cooperation in matters of the environment and organised crime and the digitisation of justice.

To this end, the relationship between money laundering and environmental crimes will be analysed. Experiences will also be shared between the two regions on data protection, electronic evidence and the second phase of development of the judicial cooperation tool (COOPERA-JUS Solution).

The conclusions of these meetings will be analysed in June in Lisbon. The main objective of the meeting is to consolidate relations between the judicial organisations in Latin America and Europe, as well as promoting the modernisation of its institutions.