On 17th September, 2019, Judge Jean-François Thony, President of The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights and Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal of Rennes (France), gave a lecture on the new European Public Prosecutor’s office (EPPO) at the John F. Kennedy Argentine University in Buenos Aires.
The EPPO will be an independent and decentralised prosecution office of the European Union, with the competence to investigate and prosecute crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or serious cross-border VAT fraud. It will become operational at the end of 2020.
The conference commenced with the welcome address of Ms. María Elisa Herren, Emeritus Rector of the JFK University. In her speech, Ms. Herren read out the Rectoral Resolution through which the University’s Superior Council awarded Judge Thony with the «Kennedy Star» the highest distinction that the University confers to men and women «who significantly contribute to the well-being of their peoples». The medal was personally presented to Judge Thony by Ms. María del Carmen Magariños, Rector of the JFK University.
The conference was also attended by Mr. Carlos Mahiques, Federal Judge of Cassation, Mr. Benoît Labat, Cultural Attaché at the French embassy in Argentina and Mr. Pedro David, co-founder of the JFK University and Dean of the Faculty of Legal Sciences.
After the lecture given by Judge Thony, the conference continued with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Siracusa International Institute and the JFK University.
The agreement paves the way to joint research between the two organisations on topics such as immigration, comparative studies of Latin America and Europe, and to the co-organisation of seminars, courses, training, as well as other types of educational and research activities.
