Eurojust Annual Report 2003

Abstract:

In the past twelve months we have established our organisation in The Hague and developed an infrastructure to enable us to be effective. The 15 national members and their assistants started 2003 with only an Administrative Director and three other permanent staff. At the end of December there were 29 permanent staff in post but only part of the proposed facilities were in place. The Secretariat of the European Judicial Network has successfully taken up its work inside the Secretariat of Eurojust as an independent part of the Eurojust Secretariat under the Decision and the College is confident this will benefit future cooperation.

In 2003 the number of case referrals to the College increased by 50% on the figure for 2002. This is satisfying since it shows that the national judicial authorities are gaining more confidence in Eurojust which is essential for Eurojust's efficiency. It is also pleasing that there was an increase in the number of multilateral cases and in the seriousness and gravity of the cases referred.