Minister O'Callaghan secures Government approval to establish a new office for EU criminal justice cooperation
- Published on: 11 June 2025
- Last updated on: 11 June 2025
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan has secured Cabinet approval for priority drafting of the Criminal Justice (International Cooperation Office) Bill 2025, which will establish the Criminal Justice International Cooperation Office and set out its powers in line with the EU e-Evidence Regulation and Directive.
The EU e-Evidence Package allows authorities in one EU Member State to issue an order to produce electronic evidence needed for a criminal investigation to an online service provider based in another EU Member State.
In 2018, the European Commission estimated that electronic evidence was relevant in 85% of criminal investigation and that 55% of all criminal investigations required a request by the investigating authorities to service providers across borders (i.e. based in another jurisdiction).
The e-Evidence Package will regulate this practice and apply the same rules to all online service providers across the EU, providing legal certainty and clarity for businesses and law enforcement.
The establishment of the Criminal Justice International Cooperation Office will provide a cohesive approach to digital regulation in the criminal justice space by centralising the necessary skills and expertise, and ensuring a streamlined regulatory framework based around a single regulator. This approach is further strengthened by government approval to incorporate other international co-operation instruments, such as the European Investigation Order Directive, into the implementation of the EU e-Evidence Package.
Minister O’Callaghan said:
“A new Criminal Justice International Cooperation Office, as committed to in the Programme for Government, will make it easier and more efficient for law enforcement and judicial authorities in Ireland, and across Europe, to obtain the evidence they need to investigate and prosecute serious crime. This is becoming more and more important as online communication is becoming increasingly borderless.
“Effective implementation of the EU e-Evidence Package is an important element of Ireland’s commitment to remain an EU centre of expertise for digital regulation and a regulatory hub for companies operating across the EU Digital Single Market in future.
“The establishment of this new Office will have significant benefits for the service providers based in Ireland in terms of their ability to comply with the requirements of the EU e-Evidence Package and other international cooperation instruments. It will streamline international cooperation activities, ensuring procedural efficiency in how Ireland fulfils its obligations.
“Ultimately, this is about ensuring that the police across the EU, including An Garda Síochána, have the modern procedural tools necessary to investigate crime available to them. Ireland will play an important part in that process through the Criminal Justice International Cooperation Office.”
ENDS
Notes
The General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (International Cooperation Office) Bill 2025 can be read here: https://gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/publications/general-scheme-of-criminal-justice-cooperation-office-bill-2025/
The e-Evidence Package is comprised of a Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 on European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal proceedings (‘e-Evidence Regulation’) and a Directive (EU) 2023/1544 laying down harmonised rules on the designation of designated establishments and the appointment of legal representatives for the purpose of gathering electronic evidence in criminal proceedings (‘e-Evidence Directive’). The e-Evidence Package allows authorities in one EU Member State to issue an order to produce electronic evidence to a service provider based in another EU Member State.
Ireland opted-into the e-Evidence Regulation in 2018. It creates a streamlined process for EU Member States to issue ‘production orders’, which are binding orders to produce evidence, to service providers headquartered in other EU jurisdictions. The Regulation expands the kinds of evidence that can be sought by law enforcement, as well as requiring the designation of competent authorities to determine the validity of production orders and to enforce incoming production orders from other MS. Under the Regulation, MS also play a role in mediating disputes that arise between service providers based in their territory, and authorities in other MS, as well as imposing financial penalties in the event of non-compliance.
The e-Evidence Directive is an internal market instrument, which is binding on Ireland. The Directive requires that Member States ensure service providers offering services in the EU designate an ‘addressee’ to process incoming orders, and also obligates MS to check that service providers adequately resource and empower addressees to respond to production orders. The Directive sets out enforcement actions, including financial penalties, that can be taken against service providers that fail to comply with its provisions.
Implementation of the e-Evidence Package has significant implications for Ireland’s tech sector and criminal justice system. Progress in implementation will have a major impact on Ireland’s reputation as a hub for digital regulation and on its ability to ensure effective access to digital evidence in tackling serious crime. There are over 600 service providers expected to designate an ‘addressee’ in Ireland, and it is anticipated that the number of production orders issued to service providers based in Ireland will well-exceed 300,000 on an annual basis. Irish authorities are likely to issue an estimated 2,000 production orders to service providers in other EU Member States to further criminal investigations here.