Iraqi judiciary strengthens its capabilities in the fight against terrorism

The European Program CT JUST, in collaboration with the European project EUACT-2, organized the workshop entitled “Strengthening international judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.”

This event, part of the CT JUST Stream on Operational Justice program, was the first time that the Iraqi judiciary participated in a training activity focused on counter-terrorism, bringing together numerous Iraqi judges and prosecutors to enhance cross-border judicial collaboration in the fight against the links between terrorism, organized crime, and drug trafficking.

The workshop sought to raise awareness among Iraqi judges and prosecutors of the need to go beyond strictly national legal frameworks, which are often interpreted restrictively, and adopt international cooperation mechanisms. These mechanisms, both centralized and informal, which operate prior to formal mutual legal assistance requests, can facilitate more effective collaboration between judicial authorities from different countries.

The training was aligned with the principles of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), with special emphasis on tools such as central authorities for criminal cooperation, liaison magistrates, joint investigation teams, informal contacts, and advanced European cross-border cooperation techniques such as the European Investigation Order and the European Arrest Warrant, presented as more effective alternatives to traditional mutual legal assistance and extradition procedures.

Participants learned about the work of EUROJUST, the European Union’s agency for judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The sessions highlighted the practical benefits of its tools and resources, including Joint Investigation Teams and coordination mechanisms between judicial authorities from EU and non-EU countries, to support terrorism-related prosecutions. These discussions have broadened the participants’ perspective on cross-border cooperation and provided them with new tools to effectively utilize international judicial cooperation mechanisms.

One of the highlights of the workshop was a meeting facilitated by CT JUST between the Vice President of EUROJUST and the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq and the National Center for International Cooperation. This meeting established direct relations between EUROJUST and Iraqi judicial institutions, laying the groundwork for future collaborations. In this way, CT JUST reinforces its role as a key technical actor supporting the strategic priorities of both EUROJUST and EUROPOL.

At the conclusion of the workshop, CT JUST Director José María Fernández Villalobos and key expert Julián Cabrero López stressed that these results “are excellent news for European and Iraqi practitioners seeking a more effective and agile framework for cross-border judicial cooperation. This represents a significant step forward in strengthening an international order based on mutual trust, which is especially crucial in the midst of the serious geopolitical tensions we are experiencing.”