Criminal matters: mutual assistance between the Member States

In adopting the report by Mr Stéphane BUFFETAUT (I-EDN, F) on the draft Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters, Parliament wished to make the draft Convention more effective. To this end it stressed the fundamental importance of judicial cooperation in combating organized crime, the need to establish instruments which were consistent and easy to apply and the honest and efficient nature of the cooperation required. Parliament considered that there must be encouragement of mutual confidence between the Member States and judicial authorities in their European partners and accessibility. Parliament also took into account in its amendments the need for investigations and trials to be swift and fair, the needs of the defence, the elimination of obstacles to achieving European cooperation and the need to encourage direct communication between judicial authorities. Lastly, Parliament called on the Member States to give the European Court of Justice jurisdiction to interpret the Convention. �