The fifth meeting of the Steering Committee of the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Project “Improving International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters in Türkiye” took place in Ankara on 16 January 2024 in a face-to-face format.

This was the first meeting organised since a 12-month project extension was approved in December 2023, extending the project’s period of implementation until December 2024.

Representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Council of Europe and Central Finance and Contracts Unit were joined by the representatives from the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye and Directorate for EU Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, who participated as observers.

The Steering Committee discussed both the progress made over the last six months, as well as the plans for the next semi-annual period. These plans include 16 cascade training sessions on international judicial cooperation for Turkish judges and prosecutors, study visits to EU member-states, and the establishment of a filtering system for outgoing Mutual Legal Assistance requests from Turkish regional courts to the Central Authority of the Ministry of Justice.

The project ‘Improving International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters in Türkiye’ is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.