Treaties & Agreements

Witness Protection Agreement

Official title: Agreement on the cooperation in the area of witness protection

Organised crime is a serious transnational threat. In order to ensure security in the Salzburg Forum member states, it is essential to strengthen international police cooperation. One important instrument to effectively fight organised crime is the protection of endangered witnesses.

So far, no legal basis valid in all of Europe had existed for the transport of endangered witnesses. This gap was closed when all Salzburg Forum Member States signed the Salzburg Forum Agreement on Witness Protection in 2012. The Agreement is a substantial contribution to better protection for witnesses in Austria and the Salzburg Forum Member States. The Agreement is open for accession to all EU Member States as well as to all other States applying the Schengen acquis.

For more information on the Agreement, please see text of the Agreement ( 604 kB).