Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939Show full title

CHAPTER V U.K. RULES OF PROCEDURE ON INVESTIGATIONS, INVESTIGATION MEASURES, PROSECUTION AND ALTERNATIVES TO PROSECUTION

SECTION 1 U.K. Rules on investigations

Article 26 U.K. Initiation of investigations and allocation of competences within the EPPO

1. Where, in accordance with the applicable national law, there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence within the competence of the EPPO is being or has been committed, a European Delegated Prosecutor in a Member State which according to its national law has jurisdiction over the offence shall, without prejudice to the rules set out in Article 25(2) and (3), initiate an investigation and note this in the case management system.

2. Where upon verification in accordance with Article 24(6), the EPPO decides to initiate an investigation, it shall without undue delay inform the authority that reported the criminal conduct in accordance with Article 24(1) or (2).

3. Where no investigation has been initiated by a European Delegated Prosecutor, the Permanent Chamber to which the case has been allocated shall, under the conditions set out in paragraph 1, instruct a European Delegated Prosecutor to initiate an investigation.

4. A case shall as a rule be initiated and handled by a European Delegated Prosecutor from the Member State where the focus of the criminal activity is or, if several connected offences within the competences of the EPPO have been committed, the Member State where the bulk of the offences has been committed. A European Delegated Prosecutor of a different Member State that has jurisdiction for the case may only initiate or be instructed by the competent Permanent Chamber to initiate an investigation where a deviation from the rule set out in the previous sentence is duly justified, taking into account the following criteria, in order of priority:

(a) the place of the suspect’s or accused person’s habitual residence;

(b) the nationality of the suspect or accused person;

(c) the place where the main financial damage has occurred.

5. Until a decision to prosecute under Article 36 is taken, the competent Permanent Chamber may, in a case concerning the jurisdiction of more than one Member State and after consultation with the European Prosecutors and/or European Delegated Prosecutors concerned, decide to:

(a) reallocate the case to a European Delegated Prosecutor in another Member State;

(b) merge or split cases and, for each case choose the European Delegated Prosecutor handling it,

if such decisions are in the general interest of justice and in accordance with the criteria for the choice of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article.

6. Whenever the Permanent Chamber is taking a decision to reallocate, merge or split a case, it shall take due account of the current state of the investigations.

7. The EPPO shall inform the competent national authorities without undue delay of any decision to initiate an investigation.

Article 27 U.K. Right of evocation

1. Upon receiving all relevant information in accordance with Article 24(2), the EPPO shall take its decision on whether to exercise its right of evocation as soon as possible, but no later than 5 days after receiving the information from the national authorities and shall inform the national authorities of that decision. The European Chief Prosecutor may in a specific case take a reasoned decision to prolong the time limit by a maximum period of 5 days, and shall inform the national authorities accordingly.

2. During the periods referred to in paragraph 1, the national authorities shall refrain from taking any decision under national law that may have the effect of precluding the EPPO from exercising its right of evocation.

The national authorities shall take any urgent measures necessary, under national law, to ensure effective investigation and prosecution.

3. If the EPPO becomes aware, by means other than the information referred to in Article 24(2), of the fact that an investigation in respect of a criminal offence for which it could be competent is already undertaken by the competent authorities of a Member State, it shall inform these authorities without delay. After being duly informed in accordance with Article 24(2), the EPPO shall take a decision on whether to exercise its right of evocation. The decision shall be taken within the time limits set out in paragraph 1 of this Article.

4. The EPPO shall, where appropriate, consult the competent authorities of the Member State concerned before deciding whether to exercise its right of evocation.

5. Where the EPPO exercises its right of evocation, the competent authorities of the Member States shall transfer the file to the EPPO and refrain from carrying out further acts of investigation in respect of the same offence.

6. The right of evocation set out in this Article may be exercised by a European Delegated Prosecutor from any Member State whose competent authorities have initiated an investigation in respect of an offence that falls within the scope of Articles 22 and 23.

Where a European Delegated Prosecutor, who has received the information in accordance with Article 24(2), considers not to exercise the right of evocation, he/she shall inform the competent Permanent Chamber through the European Prosecutor of his/her Member State with a view to enabling the Permanent Chamber to take a decision in accordance with Article 10(4).

7. Where the EPPO has refrained from exercising its competence, it shall inform the competent national authorities without undue delay. At any time in the course of the proceedings, the competent national authorities shall inform the EPPO of any new facts which could give the EPPO reasons to reconsider its decision not to exercise competence.

The EPPO may exercise its right of evocation after receiving such information, provided that the national investigation has not already been finalised and that an indictment has not been submitted to a court. The decision shall be taken within the time limit set out in paragraph 1.

8. Where, with regard to offences which caused or are likely to cause damage to the Union’s financial interests of less than EUR 100 000, the College considers that, with reference to the degree of seriousness of the offence or the complexity of the proceedings in the individual case, there is no need to investigate or to prosecute at Union level, it shall in accordance with Article 9(2), issue general guidelines allowing the European Delegated Prosecutors to decide, independently and without undue delay, not to evoke the case.

The guidelines shall specify, with all necessary details, the circumstances to which they apply, by establishing clear criteria, taking specifically into account the nature of the offence, the urgency of the situation and the commitment of the competent national authorities to take all necessary measures in order to fully recover the damage to the Union’s financial interests.

9. To ensure coherent application of the guidelines, a European Delegated Prosecutor shall inform the competent Permanent Chamber of each decision taken in accordance with paragraph 8 and each Permanent Chamber shall report annually to the College on the application of the guidelines.

Article 28 U.K. Conducting the investigation

1. The European Delegated Prosecutor handling a case may, in accordance with this Regulation and with national law, either undertake the investigation measures and other measures on his/her own or instruct the competent authorities in his/her Member State. Those authorities shall, in accordance with national law, ensure that all instructions are followed and undertake the measures assigned to them. The handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall report through the case management system to the competent European Prosecutor and to the Permanent Chamber any significant developments in the case, in accordance with the rules laid down in the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO.

2. At any time during the investigations conducted by the EPPO, the competent national authorities shall take urgent measures in accordance with national law necessary to ensure effective investigations even where not specifically acting under an instruction given by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. The national authorities shall without undue delay inform the handling European Delegated Prosecutor of the urgent measures they have taken.

3. The competent Permanent Chamber may, on proposal of the supervising European Prosecutor decide to reallocate a case to another European Delegated Prosecutor in the same Member State when the handling European Delegated Prosecutor:

(a) cannot perform the investigation or prosecution; or

(b) fails to follow the instructions of the competent Permanent Chamber or the European Prosecutor.

4. In exceptional cases, after having obtained the approval of the competent Permanent Chamber, the supervising European Prosecutor may take a reasoned decision to conduct the investigation personally, either by undertaking personally the investigation measures and other measures or by instructing the competent authorities in his/her Member State, where this appears to be indispensable in the interest of the efficiency to the investigation or prosecution by reasons of one or more of the following criteria:

(a) the seriousness of the offence, in particular in view of its possible repercussions at Union level;

(b) when the investigation concerns officials or other servants of the Union or members of the institutions of the Union;

(c) in the event of failure of the reallocation mechanism provided for in paragraph 3.

In such exceptional circumstances Member States shall ensure that the European Prosecutor is entitled to order or request investigative measures and other measures and that he/she has all the powers, responsibilities and obligations of a European Delegated Prosecutor in accordance with this Regulation and national law.

The competent national authorities and the European Delegated Prosecutors concerned by the case shall be informed without undue delay of the decision taken under this paragraph.

Article 29 U.K. Lifting privileges or immunities

1. Where the investigations of the EPPO involve persons protected by a privilege or immunity under national law, and such privilege or immunity presents an obstacle to a specific investigation being conducted, the European Chief Prosecutor shall make a reasoned written request for its lifting in accordance with the procedures laid down by that national law.

2. Where the investigations of the EPPO involve persons protected by privileges or immunities under the Union law, in particular the Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Union, and such privilege or immunity presents an obstacle to a specific investigation being conducted, the European Chief Prosecutor shall make a reasoned written request for its lifting in accordance with the procedures laid down by Union law.

SECTION 2 U.K. Rules on investigation measures and other measures

Article 30 U.K. Investigation measures and other measures

1. At least in cases where the offence subject to the investigation is punishable by a maximum penalty of at least 4 years of imprisonment, Member States shall ensure that the European Delegated Prosecutors are entitled to order or request the following investigation measures:

(a) search any premises, land, means of transport, private home, clothes and any other personal property or computer system, and take any conservatory measures necessary to preserve their integrity or to avoid the loss or contamination of evidence;

(b) obtain the production of any relevant object or document either in its original form or in some other specified form;

(c) obtain the production of stored computer data, encrypted or decrypted, either in their original form or in some other specified form, including banking account data and traffic data with the exception of data specifically retained in accordance with national law pursuant to the second sentence of Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(1);

(d) freeze instrumentalities or proceeds of crime, including assets, that are expected to be subject to confiscation by the trial court, where there is reason to believe that the owner, possessor or controller of those instrumentalities or proceeds will seek to frustrate the judgement ordering confiscation.

(e) intercept electronic communications to and from the suspect or accused person, over any electronic communication means that the suspect or accused person is using;

(f) track and trace an object by technical means, including controlled deliveries of goods.

2. Without prejudice to Article 29, the investigation measures set out in paragraph 1 of this Article may be subject to conditions in accordance with the applicable national law if the national law contains specific restrictions that apply with regard to certain categories of persons or professionals who are legally bound by an obligation of confidentiality.

3. The investigation measures set out in points(c), (e) and (f) of paragraph 1 of this Article may be subject to further conditions, including limitations, provided for in the applicable national law. In particular, Member States may limit the application of points (e) and (f) of paragraph 1 of this Article to specific serious offences. A Member State intending to make use of such limitation shall notify the EPPO of the relevant list of specific serious offences in accordance with Article 117.

4. The European Delegated Prosecutors shall be entitled to request or to order any other measures in their Member State that are available to prosecutors under national law in similar national cases, in addition to the measures referred to in paragraph 1.

5. The European Delegated Prosecutors may only order the measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 4 where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the specific measure in question might provide information or evidence useful to the investigation, and where there is no less intrusive measure available which could achieve the same objective. The procedures and the modalities for taking the measures shall be governed by the applicable national law.

Article 31 U.K. Cross-border investigations

1. The European Delegated Prosecutors shall act in close cooperation by assisting and regularly consulting each other in cross-border cases. Where a measure needs to be undertaken in a Member State other than the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, the latter European Delegated Prosecutor shall decide on the adoption of the necessary measure and assign it to a European Delegated Prosecutor located in the Member State where the measure needs to be carried out.

2. The handling European Delegated Prosecutor may assign any measures, which are available to him/her in accordance with Article 30. The justification and adoption of such measures shall be governed by the law of the Member States’ of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. Where the handling European Delegated Prosecutor assigns an investigation measure to one or several European Delegated Prosecutors from another Member State, he/she shall at the same time inform his supervising European Prosecutor.

3. If judicial authorisation for the measure is required under the law of the Member State of the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor, the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor shall obtain that authorisation in accordance with the law of that Member State.

If judicial authorisation for the assigned measure is refused, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall withdraw the assignment.

However, where the law of the Member State of the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor does not require such a judicial authorisation, but the law of the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor requires it, the authorisation shall be obtained by the latter European Delegated Prosecutor and submitted together with the assignment.

4. The assisting European Delegated Prosecutor shall undertake the assigned measure, or instruct the competent national authority to do so.

5. Where the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor considers that:

(a) the assignment is incomplete or contains a manifest relevant error;

(b) the measure cannot be undertaken within the time limit set out in the assignment for justified and objective reasons;

(c) an alternative but less intrusive measure would achieve the same results as the measure assigned; or

(d) the assigned measure does not exist or would not be available in a similar domestic case under the law of his/her Member State,

he/she shall inform his supervising European Prosecutor and consult with the handling European Delegated Prosecutor in order to resolve the matter bilaterally.

6. If the assigned measure does not exist in a purely domestic situation, but would be available in a cross-border situation covered by legal instruments on mutual recognition or cross-border cooperation, the European Delegated Prosecutors concerned may, in agreement with the supervising European Prosecutors concerned, have recourse to such instruments.

7. If the European Delegated Prosecutors cannot resolve the matter within 7 working days and the assignment is maintained, the matter shall be referred to the competent Permanent Chamber. The same applies where the assigned measure is not undertaken within the time limit set out in the assignment or within a reasonable time.

8. The competent Permanent Chamber shall to the extent necessary hear the European Delegated Prosecutors concerned by the case and then decide without undue delay, in accordance with applicable national law as well as this Regulation, whether and by when the assigned measure needed, or a substitute measure, shall be undertaken by the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor, and communicate this decision to the said European Delegated Prosecutors through the competent European Prosecutor.

Article 32 U.K. Enforcement of assigned measures

The assigned measures shall be carried out in accordance with this Regulation and the law of the Member State of the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor. Formalities and procedures expressly indicated by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall be complied with unless such formalities and procedures are contrary to the fundamental principles of law of the Member State of the assisting European Delegated Prosecutor.

Article 33 U.K. Pre-trial arrest and cross-border surrender

1. The handling European Delegated Prosecutor may order or request the arrest or pre-trial detention of the suspect or accused person in accordance with the national law applicable in similar domestic cases.

2. Where it is necessary to arrest and surrender a person who is not present in the Member State in which the handling European Delegated Prosecutor is located, the latter shall issue or request the competent authority of that Member State to issue a European Arrest Warrant in accordance with Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA(2).

SECTION 3 U.K. Rules on prosecution

Article 34 U.K. Referrals and transfers of proceedings to the national authorities

1. Where an investigation conducted by the EPPO reveals that the facts subject to investigation do not constitute a criminal offence for which it is competent under Articles 22 and 23, the competent Permanent Chamber shall decide to refer the case without undue delay to the competent national authorities.

2. Where an investigation conducted by the EPPO reveals that the specific conditions for the exercise of its competence set out in Article 25(2) and (3) are no longer met, the competent Permanent Chamber shall decide to refer the case to the competent national authorities without undue delay and before initiating prosecution at national courts.

3. Where, with regard to offences which caused or are likely to cause damage to the financial interests of the Union of less than EUR 100 000, the College considers that, with reference to the degree of seriousness of the offence or the complexity of the proceedings in the individual case, there is no need to investigate or to prosecute a case at Union level and that it would be in the interest of the efficiency of investigation or prosecution, it shall in accordance with Article 9(2), issue general guidelines allowing the Permanent Chambers to refer a case to the competent national authorities.

Such guidelines shall also allow the Permanent Chambers to refer a case to the competent national authorities where the EPPO exercises a competence in respect of offences referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 3(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and where the damage caused or likely to be caused to the Union’s financial interests does not exceed the damage caused or likely to be caused to another victim.

To ensure coherent application of the guidelines, each Permanent Chamber shall report annually to the College on the application of the guidelines.

Such referrals shall also include any inextricably linked offences within the competence of the EPPO as referred to in Article 22(3).

4. The Permanent Chamber shall communicate any decision to refer a case to national authorities on the basis of paragraph 3 to the European Chief Prosecutor. Within 3 days of receiving of this information, the European Chief Prosecutor may request the Permanent Chamber to review its decision if the European Chief Prosecutor considers that the interest to ensure the coherence of the referral policy of the EPPO so requires. If the European Chief Prosecutor is a Member of the relevant Permanent Chamber, one of the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors shall exercise the right to request the said review.

5. Where the competent national authorities do not accept to take over the case in accordance with paragraph 2 and 3 within a timeframe of maximum 30 days, the EPPO shall remain competent to prosecute or dismiss the case, in accordance with the rules laid down in this Regulation.

6. Where the EPPO considers a dismissal in accordance with Article 39(3), and if the national authority so requires, the Permanent Chamber shall refer the case without delay to that authority.

7. If, following a referral in accordance with paragraph (1), (2) or (3) of this Article and Article 25(3), the national authority decides to open an investigation, the EPPO shall transfer the file to that national authority, refrain from taking further investigative or prosecutorial measures and close the case.

8. If a file is transferred in accordance with paragraph (1), (2) or (3) of this Article and Article 25(3), the EPPO shall inform the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, as well as, where appropriate under national law, suspects or accused persons and the crime victims of the transfer.

Article 35 U.K. Termination of the investigation

1. When the handling European Delegated Prosecutor considers the investigation to be completed, he/she shall submit a report to the supervising European Prosecutor, containing a summary of the case and a draft decision whether to prosecute before a national court or to consider a referral of the case, dismissal or simplified prosecution procedure in accordance with Article 34, 39 or 40. The supervising European Prosecutor shall forward those documents to the competent Permanent Chamber accompanied, if he/she considers it to be necessary, by his/her own assessment. When the Permanent Chamber, in accordance with Article 10(3), takes the decision as proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor, he/she shall pursue the matter accordingly.

2. If the Permanent Chamber, based on the reports received, considers that it will not take the decision as proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor, it shall, where necessary, undertake its own review of the case file before taking a final decision or giving further instructions to the European Delegated Prosecutor.

3. Where applicable, the report of the European Delegated Prosecutor shall also provide sufficient reasoning for bringing the case to judgment either at a court of the Member State where he/she is located, or, in accordance with Article 26(4) at a court of a different Member State which has jurisdiction over the case.

Article 36 U.K. Prosecution before national Courts

1. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgment, the Permanent Chamber shall, following the procedures set out in Article 35, decide on this draft within 21 days. The Permanent Chamber cannot decide to dismiss the case if a draft decision proposes bringing a case to judgment.

2. Where the Permanent Chamber does not take a decision within the 21-day time limits, the decision proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor shall be deemed to be accepted.

3. Where more than one Member State has jurisdiction over the case, the Permanent Chamber shall in principle decide to bring the case to prosecution in the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. However, the Permanent Chamber may, taking into account the report provided in accordance with Article 35(1), decide to bring the case to prosecution in a different Member State, if there are sufficiently justified grounds to do so, taking into account the criteria set out in Article 26(4) and (5), and instruct a European Delegated Prosecutor of that Member State accordingly.

4. Before deciding to bring a case to judgment, the competent Permanent Chamber may, on the proposal of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, decide to join several cases, where investigations have been conducted by different European Delegated Prosecutors against the same person(s) with a view to prosecuting these cases in the courts of a single Member State which, in accordance with its law, has jurisdiction for each of those cases.

5. Once a decision on the Member State in which the prosecution shall be brought has been taken, the competent national court within that Member State shall be determined on the basis of national law.

6. Where necessary for the purposes of recovery, administrative follow-up or monitoring, the Central Office shall notify the competent national authorities, interested persons and the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union of the decision to prosecute.

7. Where, following a judgment of the Court, the prosecution has to decide whether to lodge an appeal, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall submit a report including a draft decision to the competent Permanent Chamber and await its instructions. Should it be impossible to await those instructions within the deadline set by national law, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall be entitled to lodge the appeal without prior instructions from the Permanent Chamber, and shall subsequently submit the report to the Permanent Chamber without delay. The Permanent Chamber shall then instruct the European Delegated Prosecutor either to maintain or withdraw the appeal. The same procedure shall apply when, in the course of the court proceedings and in accordance with applicable national law, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor would take a position that would lead to the dismissal of the case.

Article 37 U.K. Evidence

1. Evidence presented by the prosecutors of the EPPO or the defendant to a court shall not be denied admission on the mere ground that the evidence was gathered in another Member State or in accordance with the law of another Member State.

2. The power of the trial court to freely assess the evidence presented by the defendant or the prosecutors of the EPPO shall not be affected by this Regulation.

Article 38 U.K. Disposition of confiscated assets

Where, in accordance with the requirements and procedures under national law including the national law transposing Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(3), the competent national court has decided by a final ruling to confiscate any property related to, or proceeds derived from, an offence within the competence of the EPPO, such assets or proceeds shall be disposed of in accordance with applicable national law. This disposition shall not negatively affect the rights of the Union or other victims to be compensated for damage that they have incurred.

SECTION 4 U.K. Rules on alternatives to prosecution

Article 39 U.K. Dismissal of the case

1. Where prosecution has become impossible, pursuant to the law of the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, the Permanent Chamber shall, based on a report provided by the European Delegated Prosecutor handling the case in accordance with Article 35(1), decide to dismiss the case against a person on account of any of the following grounds:

(a) the death of the suspect or accused person or winding up of a suspect or accused legal person;

(b) the insanity of the suspect or accused person;

(c) amnesty granted to the suspect or accused person;

(d) immunity granted to the suspect or accused person, unless it has been lifted;

(e) expiry of the national statutory limitation to prosecute;

(f) the suspect’s or accused person’s case has already been finally disposed of in relation to the same acts;

(g) the lack of relevant evidence.

2. A decision in accordance with paragraph 1 shall not bar further investigations on the basis of new facts which were not known to the EPPO at the time of the decision and which become known after the decision. The decision to reopen investigations on the basis of such new facts shall be taken by the competent Permanent Chamber.

3. Where the EPPO is competent in accordance with Article 22(3), it shall dismiss a case only after consultation with the national authorities of the Member State referred to in Article 25(6). If applicable, the Permanent Chamber shall refer the case to the competent national authorities in accordance with Article 34(6), (7) and (8).

The same applies where the EPPO exercises a competence in respect of offences referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 3(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and where the damage caused or likely to be caused to the Union’s financial interests does not exceed the damage caused or likely to be caused to another victim.

4. Where a case has been dismissed, the EPPO shall officially notify the competent national authorities and shall inform the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union, as well as, where appropriate under national law, the suspects or accused persons and the crime victims, of such dismissal. The dismissed cases may also be referred to OLAF or to the competent national administrative or judicial authorities for recovery or other administrative follow-up.

SECTION 5 U.K. Rules on simplified procedures

Article 40 U.K. Simplified prosecution procedures

1. If the applicable national law provides for a simplified prosecution procedure aiming at the final disposal of a case on the basis of terms agreed with the suspect, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor may, in accordance with Article 10(3) and Article 35(1), propose to the competent Permanent Chamber to apply that procedure in accordance with the conditions provided for in national law.

Where the EPPO exercises a competence in respect of offences referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 3(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and where the damage caused or likely to be caused to the Union’s financial interest does not exceed the damage caused or likely to be caused to another victim, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall consult national prosecution authorities before proposing to apply a simplified prosecution procedure.

2. The Permanent Chamber shall decide on the proposal of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor taking into account the following grounds:

(a) the seriousness of the offence, based on in particular the damage caused;

(b) the willingness of the suspected offender to repair the damage caused by the illegal conduct;

(c) the use of the procedure would be in accordance with the general objectives and basic principles of the EPPO as set out in this Regulation.

The College shall, in accordance with Article 9(2), adopt guidelines on the application of those grounds.

3. If the Permanent Chamber agrees with the proposal, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall apply the simplified prosecution procedure in accordance with the conditions provided for in national law and register it in the case management system. When the simplified prosecution procedure has been finalised upon fulfilment of the terms agreed with the suspect, the Permanent Chamber shall instruct the European Delegated Prosecutor to act with a view to finally dispose of the case.

(1)

Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (OJ L 201, 31.7.2002, p. 37).

(2)

Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (OJ L 190, 18.7.2002, p. 1).

(3)

Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union (OJ L 127, 29.4.2014, p. 39).