{{short description|EU members law enforcement and judicial team founded in 2014}} A '''joint investigation team''' ({{abbr.}} '''JIT''') is a law enforcement and judicial team set up jointly by national investigative agencies of European Union (EU) member states to handle cross-border crime. Joint investigation teams coordinate the investigations and prosecutions conducted in parallel by several countries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Joint Investigation Teams - JITs|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/joint-investigation-teams|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-09|website=Europol|language=en|quote=In accordance with the Council document establishing the Network of National Experts on Joint Investigation Teams (the JITs Network), the national experts’ role is to facilitate the work of practitioners in the Member States, in association with Europol and Eurojust in their supportive role to JITs.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=General background|url=http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/Practitioners/JITs/Pages/historical-background.aspx|access-date=2020-07-09|website=www.eurojust.europa.eu|archive-date=2015-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801133033/http://eurojust.europa.eu/Practitioners/JITs/Pages/historical-background.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Joint investigation teams |url=https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/judicial-cooperation/instruments/joint-investigation-teams |access-date=2025-05-10 |publisher=Eurojust |language=en}}</ref> Such a team is formed based upon an agreement between competent authorities – both judicial (judges, prosecutors, investigative judges) and law enforcement – of two or more member states of the European Union. They can be backed up by Eurojust and Europol, the EU judicial and law enforcement cooperation agencies.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
JITs are based on the Council Framework Decision 2002/465/JHA,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on joint investigation teams |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_framw/2002/465/oj |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=eur-lex.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> and their terms of operation are defined on the Model Agreement for Setting up a Joint Investigation Team, as appended to EU Council Resolution 2017/C 18/01.<ref name=":0" /> However, their activities are governed by the national law of the member state that leads the JIT.<ref name=":0" />
== History == After the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014, a joint investigation team conducting criminal investigation with representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine was formed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zaken|first=Ministerie van Algemene|date=2018-01-23|title=The criminal investigation - MH17 incident - Government.nl|url=https://www.government.nl/topics/mh17-incident/achieving-justice/the-criminal-investigation|access-date=2020-07-09|website=www.government.nl|language=en-GB}}</ref>
A JIT was formed in April 2020 by the French National Gendarmerie and the Dutch police to investigate the secure communication service EncroChat, used by some 60,000 subscribers at the time of its closure; nearly all of them were criminals.<ref name="FinancialTimes2">{{Cite news|last=Wright|first=Robert|date=2 July 2020|title=Hundreds arrested across Europe as French police crack encrypted network|work=The Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7006913f-be3d-49b5-8ba7-7c5b78b551b2}}</ref><ref name="Euronews">{{Cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Rachael|date=2 July 2020|title=EU authorities penetrate phone network in huge organised crime sting|work=Euronews|url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/07/02/encrochat-european-authorities-compromise-phone-network-to-arrest-untouchable-criminals-in}}</ref>
== See also== *{{anl|Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commonscatinline}}
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Category:Criminal investigation Category:International criminal law Category:Teams Category:Collaboration Category:Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Category:European Union law