Judge Tomoko Akane, the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Catherine De Bolle, the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation – Europol, signed a Liaison Officer Agreement and a memorandum of understanding on a secure line connection between the two institutions.
The signatures of these two legal instruments put into practice the Working Arrangement between the International Criminal Court and Europol, which was concluded on 25 April 2023. This will allow the ICC to nominate a Liaison Officer to Europol. The signing will also allow the ICC to establish a SIENA connection with Europol, allowing for the secure exchange of sensitive operational information.
The cooperation between Europol and the ICC is of great interest to both parties in the fight against core international crimes. As law enforcement practitioners – and especially for those of us who work in pursuit of international criminal justice, the International Criminal Court is a reference. It is a symbol for the international community efforts to hold accountable those guilty of some of the world’s worst crimes.
ICC President Tomoko Akane said, “Our two institutions share a fundamental understanding that international cooperation is key to the pursuit of justice. At this challenging time, the objectives of the Court, including the pursuit of an end to impunity in the context of full respect for the rule of law, can be best achieved in close cooperation and partnership with others. Today, we strengthen this cooperation by adopting frameworks for its practical implementation between our two institutions.”
Europol’s mandate expanded in 2017 to include the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Since its inception seven years ago, a dedicated Europol Analysis Project has been providing tailor-made and specialised support to EU member states’ and third parties’ efforts to identify and investigate individuals, networks and groups involved in committing core international crimes.
Europol focuses on the analytical part of international crimes investigations, streamlines information exchange, carries out online monitoring, and provides open sources intelligence. To that end, Europol has a secure and dedicated operational data storage capacity, which is compliant to judicial use of evidence.Â
