The Hague, 09 June 2008.
Today, Eurojust hosted a visit by Mrs Rachida Dati, Minister of Justice for France and “Garde des Sceaux” (keeper of the seals); she came to visit several international organisations in The Hague and meet with the Dutch Minister of Justice.
Mrs Dati was accompanied by 20 students preparing or having succeeded the examination of the “Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature” (French National Magistrate School) who have so had an opportunity to discover the role and practice of new international institutions during their visits to Eurojust, Europol and the International Criminal Court.
This was the second visit to the Netherlands by Mrs Dati; in October 2007 she came to study the Dutch TBS detention system.
During her visit to Eurojust, she met with the President and Vice-Presidents of Eurojust, and with Mr François Falletti, National Member for France. Mrs Dati could exchange information about the situation of Eurojust and its improvement that she fully supports through the draft Decision about Eurojust and the European Judicial Network that are discussed in Brussels. They also discussed about the proposals to update the Eurojust Decision and the development of Eurojust. The French presidency will develop some precise ideas on the future of Eurojust and its role in co-ordinating investigations and prosecutions in Europe and abroad.
The French desk at Eurojust is composed of 3 prosecutors, 2 legal assistants and 2 secretaries.
Afterwards, Mr Falletti commented:
“We are very happy that the French Minister of Justice could come and visit Eurojust at the eve of the beginning of the French Presidency for the European Union; the strengthening of Eurojust is one of the priorities for the Ministry of Justice in the coming months and it was important that Mrs Dati could get full information about it by a personal visit. Eurojust is strongly involved in the fight against serious and organised crime at the European and international level. Its role and results are more and more identified by practitioners since its creation in 2002. The visit paid by Mrs Dati stresses the strength of the commitment of the French Minister in that perspective, her wish to involve at an early stage young lawyers in it and her will to do all that is possible for the full development of the European Space of freedom, security and Justice”.