Sam Tanson attended the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union in Brussels

The Council unanimously adopted conclusions on the fight against impunity for serious international crimes committed in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Reflections on the creation of a special court competent to judge the crime of aggression will continue in the coming weeks.

In a declaration made on behalf of the Benelux on the accession of the European Union to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Sam Tanson spoke out in favor of a solution which would allow for the control of internal jurisdiction to be guaranteed, before the Court of Justice of the European Union, of the acts adopted by the European Union in the field of common foreign and security policy.

As regards the directive on environmental crimes, ministers were able to agree on the text of a general approach which will strengthen the mechanisms to combat this crime. Luxembourg defended an approach aimed at greater harmonization of criminal sanctions applicable to legal persons in order to avoid excessively divergent levels of sanctions between Member States within the Union.

With regard to the Anti-SLAPP Directive (Strategic lawsuits against public participation; “strategic lawsuits that distort public debate”), the Ministers held an exchange of views, underlining the need to reconcile the protection of the victims of such lawsuits with the general principle of the right of access to justice.

Also on the agenda was a proposal for a directive on the recovery and confiscation of assets in criminal proceedings, as well as on the fight against anti-Semitism, on which the ministers had the opportunity to discuss during the working lunch.

Statement from the Ministry of Justice