JUDICIAL COOPERATION IN CRIMINAL MATTERS – AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INTEGRATION INTO THE EU

In a world increasingly appreciated as multipolar, from political, economic, social, cultural and, why not, legal perspective, faced with unprecedented challenges, also of multipolar nature, such as wars, international tensions, climate change and the energy crisis, international cooperation, including in criminal matters, between states is essential, with the EU playing a particularly important role. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters at EU level is an integrative part of judicial cooperation in criminal matters at international level. Pragmatically analysing, we notice that we are witnessing a real interoperability in vertical and horizontal planes, between the states that form the international society, at regional (including European) level, but also at universal level, with the precise purpose of ensuring the maximization of the efficiency of actions carried out in the criminal field. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters represents, together with judicial cooperation in civil matters, an essential component of the integration of all Member States into the EU.