CT JUST project comes full circle after four years of technical cooperation

Brussels hosted the closing ceremony of CT JUST, a four-year EU-funded project to strengthen the prevention and fight against terrorism, implemented by FIAP in partnership with Expertise France, Civipol, Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas, and the Center for International Legal Cooperation. The event brought together more than 100 participants from over 25 countries to review achievements, share lessons learned, and discuss how to sustain the results for future projects.

Opening the ceremony, Mr. Peter Wagner, Director of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), underlined the project’s impact: “It’s a big pleasure to be here today, at the closing event for what was a really successful project; one that has helped us to shape and strengthen international cooperation in the area of criminal justice and the fight against terrorism.”

CT JUST delivered concrete results across four regions, strengthening cooperation and the entire counter-terrorism criminal justice chain:

• Supported 49 countries in the Middle East, Maghreb, Sahel and Horn of Africa.
• Established regional working groups to exchange best practices and reinforce cooperation.
• Delivered 174 activities involving more than 1,500 participants.
• Strengthened critical points of the criminal justice chain, including police investigations, evidence collection and preservation, judicial procedures, and victims’ support mechanisms.
• Helped dismantle terrorist networks while promoting the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights.

Irena Moozová, Deputy Director-General of DG JUST, highlighted that cooperation in this field remains a priority on the EU agenda, while José María Fernández Villalobos, magistrate and director of the project, emphasised that “terrorism and organised crime require a global response, guided by the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights”.

Advancing Women’s Roles in Counter-Terrorism

Across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, CT JUST analysed emerging trends in how terrorist organisations recruit, mobilise and operationalise both men and women. This work highlighted a more complex picture of women’s involvement in terrorism, including the use of online platforms, network-building and support roles that can evolve into operational engagement. Understanding these dynamics has helped authorities adapt their investigative approaches, improve early detection and strengthen gender-sensitive responses.

The project worked with specialists from the Spanish National Police to enhance the contribution of female officers to investigations involving foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). This included:

• building capacity on interviewing techniques,
• improving gender-sensitive approaches and,
• supporting operational cooperation. 

This work forms part of a broader effort to integrate gender perspectives into counter-terrorism and criminal justice cooperation.

Strengthening Intelligence, Judicial Cooperation and Regional Response

CT JUST contributed to regional intelligence-judicial cooperation through the creation of the Sphinx network, aimed at improving the use of intelligence in judicial processes. Training on digital investigations in Jordan, crisis-management exercises with institutions in Tunisia and the Arab Interior Ministers Council (AIMC), and capacity-building for judicial actors were among the project’s key deliverables. 

The project further facilitated direct judicial cooperation between Eurojust and regional partners, including the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It helped open bilateral channels, supported the development of cooperation frameworks, and strengthened the institutional ties between Eurojust and authorities in Iraq, Egypt and other LAS member states.

Francisco Tierraseca, Director of FIAP, underlined that technical projects such as CT JUST “expand the operational scope of European agencies, and form part of the ecosystem that allows the Union to act as a credible partner in security matters.” 

More about CT JUST

Terrorist organisations continue to pose significant security risks across multiple regions, including the Middle East, the Maghreb, the Sahel, and Central and South-East Asia. In the MENA region, the threat remains high, particularly in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, where instability persists. 

Since 2022, CT JUST has strengthened preventive and operational capacities of partner states with the aim to disrupt terrorist networks and the activities of recruiters to terrorism and bring terrorists to justice while continuing to respect human rights, gender equality and international law.

Visit the project page to learn more about CT JUST.