Attorney-at-law in the proceedings conducted by the new OLAF and EPPO

The article extensively discusses the issue of combating broadly understood white-collar crime and crimes affecting the interests of the European Union, per the PIF Directive, as well as the new police and investigative powers of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The author not only discusses OLAF’s policing and investigating powers but also points to the role of an attorney-at-law as a person who serves both advice and ensures that procedural guarantees are observed. By presenting in detail the catalogue of procedural guarantees and the role of the Controller of Procedural Guarantees, the author indicates the mechanisms of ensuring the protection of the person who is subject to EU investigation as well as presenting the necessity for a support of a professional legal representative. The detailed description of procedural guarantees is followed by postulates of strengthening the independence and expansion of the system of protection of procedural guarantees by providing it with an independent back office and establishing Controllers of Procedural Guarantees in countries where OLAF will be the leading institution of European investigations (Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland and Denmark).

The article extensively discusses the issue of combating broadly understood white-collar crime and crimes affecting the interests of the European Union, per the PIF Directive, as well as the new police and investigative powers of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The author not only discusses OLAF’s policing and investigating powers but also points to the role of an attorney-at-law as a person who serves both advice and ensures that procedural guarantees are observed. By presenting in detail the catalogue of procedural guarantees and the role of the Controller of Procedural Guarantees, the author indicates the mechanisms of ensuring the protection of the person who is subject to EU investigation as well as presenting the necessity for a support of a professional legal representative. The detailed description of procedural guarantees is followed by postulates of strengthening the independence and expansion of the system of protection of procedural guarantees by providing it with an independent back office and establishing Controllers of Procedural Guarantees in countries where OLAF will be the leading institution of European investigations (Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Ireland and Denmark).