The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted a third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, marking an important step in the modernisation of judicial co-operation.
The new Protocol aims to strengthen the capacity of member and partner states to respond effectively to crime, particularly in a context of rapid political, social and technological change. It supplements and updates the Convention adopted in 1959, as well as its first two Additional Protocols, to adapt them to contemporary challenges.
The main advances include:
- simplification and acceleration of mutual assistance procedures ;
- extending the range of situations in which mutual assistance may be requested;
- broadening the use of electronic communication channels and video conferencing; enabling the use of technical surveillance tools such as GPS trackers and telecommunications interception; and introducing time limits.
Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on judicial co-operation in criminal matters (PC-OC), under the authority of the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), prepared the new Protocol, having identified the need to revise certain provisions of the 1959 Convention, particularly in the light of the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing use of digital tools in judicial cooperation. The Protocol thus reflects the insight and experience of practitioners who apply the Convention on a daily basis.
This third Protocol will be opened for signature at the informal Conference of Ministers of Justice, to be held in Valletta (Malta) on 18 and 19 September 2025. It was part of a common will on the part of the States Parties to make mutual legal assistance more effective, flexible and adapted to current realities, while guaranteeing a high level of protection of human rights.
