A milestone for judicial cooperation between the EU and Arab countries in the fight against terrorism

The Arab Centre for Legal and Judicial Research, together with the European CT Just project, organised a conference with the aim of bringing to fruition the technical work carried out over two years. The conference provided an opportunity to present firm proposals, obtain the explicit support of the highest authorities and initiate proceedings by the competent bodies of the League of Arab States.

The meeting was structured on two levels. On the one hand, there was a thematic focus on foreign terrorist fighters, which highlighted challenges in terms of both fiscal coordination and evidence management. On the other hand, there was the institutional core: mechanisms to enable agile and guaranteed cooperation between public prosecutors and ministries of justice in the region and their coordination with ongoing police investigations in order to obtain evidence that can be validated in court.

Three documents have been submitted to the Arab authorities, offering a proposal for the legal, human and practical architecture of this cooperation: one of them is the Arab Platform for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters. The second is the Model Regulations on Central Authorities and Liaison Magistrates. And finally, the Specialised Counter-Terrorism Manual for Judges and Prosecutors, which consists of five modules aimed at judges and prosecutors, enabling them to specialise in the effective use of the above instruments of international cooperation.

The conference was chaired by senior officials from Lebanon, the League of Arab States (LAS) and the European Union (EU). The President of the Republic of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, and the country’s Minister of Justice, Adel Nassar, expressed their support, announcing their intention to promote the adoption of the necessary decisions to launch the platform before the League. On the European side, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Bartjan Wegter and EU Ambassador to Lebanon Sandra de Waele highlighted the importance of the relationship built as a basis for political engagement between the LAS and the EU and the value of the CTJUST technical initiative. The message was clear: cooperation does not end here; it has only just begun.

The agreed results are clear, as highlighted by magistrates José María Fernández Villalobos and Julián Cabrero López (director and expert at CT Just, respectively): “The three proposals have gained broad consensus as a basis for formal submission to the competent bodies of the League for study, processing and approval in accordance with the organisation’s procedures and institutional culture. In short, this conference has turned a series of technical workshops into a coherent institutional proposal, with high-level political messages and a phased implementation path.”

‘From now on, the joint work between the League, the Member States and the EU will focus on accompanying the internal processing of documents, strengthening technical assistance and monitoring milestones in adoption and practical use, with a measurable objective: greater speed and reliability in Arab judicial cooperation against terrorism.’