Armenia to `formally`cooperate with Eurojust

ArmInfo. On September 12, the Armenian government approved the proposal to sign a working agreement between the RA Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice and the EU Single Agency for Justice on the implementation of the Agreement  on Cooperation between the Competent Authorities in the Field of  Legal Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the European  Union in Criminal Proceedings of the Republic of Armenia and the  European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation "Eurojust".

Presenting the draft decision, the Minister of Justice Grigor  Minasyan recalled that on September 10, the Armenian parliament gave  the "green light" to the ratification of this agreement, signed by  the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan in April 2024 in  Brussels. The purpose of the agreement is to develop international  cooperation between Eurojust and the competent authorities of the  Republic of Armenia in the fight against organized crime, terrorism,  money laundering, human trafficking and other serious crimes.

The document also provides for the creation of a single space of  standards and regulations in the relevant areas, including the  justice sector. With the current document, Minasyan explained, the  Cabinet of Ministers will approve the procedure for working with the  single EU justice agency.

The RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, in turn, noted that the  RA, until today Armenia has cooperated with Eurojust - 68 requests were sent to EU countries, and their  traceability was ensured through this body. It should be noted that  according to the Agreement, the Republic of Armenia appoints a  prosecutor for cooperation issues in order to implement communication  and cooperation between Eurojust and the competent authorities of the  RA. Eurojust, in turn, can appoint a contact representative - the  Minister for Cooperation. As Deputy Minister of Justice Karen  Karapetyan previously stated in the National Assembly, within the  framework of the document, Armenia undertakes to protect the personal  data transferred to it in accordance with the established standards.

Ratification of the agreement will simplify and make more targeted  the work of diplomatic missions of Armenia abroad in providing legal  assistance to citizens of the Republic of Armenia, added Deputy  Prosecutor General of the Republic Yeghiazar Avagyan. As stated in  the explanation to the document, Eurojust has a wide range of  jurisdiction in the fight against transnational crime, therefore the  Agreement will provide an opportunity to effectively cooperate with  the competent authorities of the EU member states in criminal  proceedings, and the representation of the Prosecutor's Office of the  Republic of Armenia in Eurojust will speed up the process of  information exchange and improve the quality of mutual support.