The EEEI is currently starting its participation in this project, which is entrusted to a consortium made up of several Italian courts of appeal and public prosecutors’ offices (Venice, Trento, Rimini, etc.), the EPLO in Athens, the School of Public Law in Bremen (Germany), the French and Belgian national chambers of commissioners of justice, etc., all of which are led by the NGO AGENFOR, which is well known for its work in the field of promoting the rule of law and associated training. The project, co-financed by the European Commission, is scheduled to last 3 years. The kick-off meeting took place on 13 December 2022 at the Court of Appeal of Venice.

Within this consortium led by our Italian friends, our EEEI institute will have the task of coordinating the creation of a European network of virtual training centres dedicated to the practice of European legal instruments for actors in cross-border criminal proceedings: prosecutors, judges, lawyers, experts, bailiffs, etc. This coordination work will be complemented by the creation of training scenarios and e-capsules. This is the first European project on criminal expertise for the EEEI.

In order to carry out this task, we need to involve practising magistrates or lawyers who can provide experience and advice without necessarily committing themselves to a time-consuming activity. We have already received the support of several people (magistrates, lawyers, academics), but we still need to extend our network, initially in France, but also more widely in Europe. You can help us by pointing out such practitioners in your circle, whom we will then approach to offer them to be associated with our project team.

Global objectives of the VR-DigiJust project:

VR-DigiJust contributes to the effective and coherent application of specific EU cooperation instruments at regional level through a decentralised cross-border and cross-professional training strategy. The project focusses on the impact of new technologies on the work of judicial professionals during cross-border, especially cascade, cases that call for strategic decisions on the use of instruments for judicial cooperation. The tools considered a priority in the training content are:

  • Council Regulation (EU) 2018/1805;
  • Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA (EAW);
  • Directive 2014/41/EU (EIO);
  • Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 (EPPO);
  • Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR);
  • Directive (EU) 2016/680 (Police Directive).