International cooperation
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The European Union body Eurojust was established in year 2002 with the purpose of furthering the effectiveness of cooperation between legal institutions of the Member States upon investigating severe crimes, incl. cases of organised crime. The State Prosecutor Laura Vaik is Estonia’s representative in Eurojust since the year 2019. Her predecessor was Raivo Sepp, who represented Estonia in Eurojust since 2004, starting from 2007, Raivo Sepp was Vice-President of Eurojust.
IAP (International Association of Prosecutors)
The Estonian Prosecutor’s Office joined the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) in 2004. The IAP is a global forum of prosecutors which fulfils the following goals:
sharing experiences between Member States regarding presenting of criminal charges;
developing common high standards upon implementing the law;
strengthening the cooperation between prosecutors in combating organised crime, incl. strengthening cooperation in gathering evidence and exchanging information;
developing direct contacts between prosecutors for the purpose of strengthening everyday mutual cooperation.
The cooperation includes work meetings for specialised prosecutors of relevant fields. The Chief Prosecutors of different Member States meet on annual conferences.
EJN (European Judicial Network)
The Prosecutor’s Office is the contact for the European Judicial Network in criminal matters (EJN) which was established in 1998 in order to enhance the judicial cooperation between Member States regarding combating international crime. Prosecutor’s Office is a contact agency of the EJN, together with the Ministry of Justice and the Central Criminal Police.
EJTN (European Judicial Training Network)
The European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) was established in 2000 for the purpose of strengthening the cooperation between the European Union Member States in the field of training for judges, prosecutors and court personnel. The Prosecutor’s Office has participated in the EJTN cooperation as an observer since the year 2004.
OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office)
The Prosecutor’s Office is also cooperating with the European Anti-Fraud Office of the European Commission (OLAF) which has the primary mission of strengthening the combating of fraud, corruption and illegal activities harming the financial interests of the European Union.
CARIN (The Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network)
The Prosecutor’s Office participates in the work of the CARIN cooperation network established in 2004 with the purpose of promoting cooperation between Member States for identification, seizure and confiscation of illegally obtained property.
MONEYVAL is an expert committee assessing the implementation of anti-money laundering measures in those member states of the European Council which are not members of the FATF. Estonia is a permanent member of the MONEYVAL committee.
The Estonian Prosecutor’s Office is also actively cooperating with the Prosecutor’s Offices of other countries in the Baltic Sea region. This cooperation started in the year 1997 and the cooperation parties are Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Germany and Poland. The cooperation includes an annual conference of Chief Prosecutors and expert groups for solving ongoing problems:
The Expert Group on Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance;
The Expert Group on Trafficking in and Sexual Abuse of Women and Children;
The Expert Group on Environmental Crimes).
The unofficial cooperation network ENVICRIMENET
This network was established in 2011 for the purpose of cooperation in investigating environmental crimes. The cooperation network connects prosecutors and representatives of investigative bodies from the European Union Member States. The Estonian contact bodies are the Prosecutor’s Office and the Environmental Inspectorate.