The first meeting of the Ad hoc Drafting Group was held in June 2013. It began with
a tour de table of the main topics in each representative’s country that had to be
dealt with by the Ad hoc Drafting Group and which the representatives of the group
had already submitted in writing to the Secretariat. The representatives of the
different monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe presented the main activities
carried out in their monitoring work, focusing on the transnational perspective of
organised crime. Their input into the group’s work was very much appreciated and
considered essential in the identification of possible areas to be covered in the White
Paper. The monitoring bodies also welcomed the added value of meeting together
and working in such a multidisciplinary manner.
The Ad hoc Drafting Group considered good examples of judicial co-operation in
criminal matters such as the European Judicial Network (EJN) and the Ibero-
American Network for International Legal Cooperation (IberRED), which is a cooperation
tool, for both civil and criminal matters, at the disposal of judicial operators
from 22 Ibero-American countries (including Andorra, Portugal and Spain) and the
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.