Original scientific paper
The Structure of the EPPO: Features and Challenges
Katalin Ligeti
; University of Luxembourg
Abstract
Prior to the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12
October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment
of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the structure of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office was highly debatable because of its status, powers and relations with other EU bodies and national authorities. This article analyses the EPPO structure originally conceived in the Commission’s Proposal for an EPPO Regulation, then moves on to the Office’s structure as is currently envisaged in the EPPO Regulation, explaining the differences. This structure poses two challenges: the (claimed) independence of the EPPO in those Member States where public prosecutors are not entirely independent of the executive, and the (potentially) complex implementation of the EPPO Regulation in those systems where the investigating judge (juge d’instruction) still plays a prominent role in criminal investigations and prosecutions. It can be concluded that the EPPO Regulation may bring changes in national legal orders that go well beyond the limited field of the protection of the Union’s financial interests.
Keywords
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office; EPPO; EPPO structure; independence of prosecutors; EPPO regulation
Hrčak ID:
244904
URI
Publication date:
15.10.2020.
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