Gurbanov R. The European Judicial Network and Eurojust as basic means of the cooperation of EU Member States in the area of criminal justice

Abstract: This article considers the cooperation between Member States of the European Union in the area of criminal justice. Two important institutions which encourage the cooperation in the way that Member States are organized, are the European Judicial Network and Eurojust. Such aspects as the organization, the history of the creation, functions, powers and activities of Eurojust are considered. The author concludes that Eurojust, as a European Law Institute, which will provide the basis for establishing a European Prosecutor in future (Article 69 of the Lisbon Treaty), is nowadays the most advanced contributor to the cooperation of Member States in the field of criminal justice. However, the author notes that in such an area as criminal justice, where the loss of sovereignty of member states of EU is experienced the most strongly, Eurojust stays an authority, in the way EU member states’ tribunals are organized, but it is not the European supranational institution. That is why it should be considered as a tool of interaction between the tribunals of EU member states, and not as an institution controlling the interaction between the judicial authorities of Member States and the EU justice system.

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