The final motion before the committee concerns the adoption by Ireland of an EU Council decision on strengthening Eurojust.
Council Decision: Motion.
The approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas is required before Ireland can agree to the adoption of this instrument at EU level. The draft decision can be implemented in Ireland on an administrative basis. However, legislation will be required in regard to one specific aspect of it.
Eurojust is a high level team of senior magistrates, prosecutors, judges and other legal experts seconded from every EU member state to work as a team in the Hague. Each member state has one national member. Ireland's member is an official of the DPP's office. Eurojust, which was established in 2002, can give immediate legal advice and assistance in cross-border cases to investigators, prosecutors and judges in member states. It advises judges and prosecutors where to look for the information they need from another member state and generally advises on how to proceed in cross-border cases. This is of immense practical benefit given the various legal systems and differing ways of investigating and prosecuting offences which exist in the 27 member states.
The current legal basis of Eurojust is Council Decision (2002) 187-JHA of 28 February 2002, as amended by Council Decision (2003) 659-JHA. Towards the end of 2007, a number of member states put forward an initiative to strengthen Eurojust in the fight against serious crime. Essentially, the basis of the proposals was to give Eurojust national members specific powers in regard to receiving, preparing, executing and making requests for judicial co-operation. Such requests are sometimes described as requests for mutual legal assistance and this is the terminology that we in Ireland generally use. The proposed Council decision aims to reinforce the role and capacities of Eurojust by providing for: on-call co-ordination at Eurojust; the conferring of a range of powers at national level on Eurojust national members; specific obligations to provide certain information for Eurojust national members; certain types of information such as controlled deliveries spanning several member states which should be notified to the national member; the possibility for the posting of Eurojust liaison magistrates to third states; and the possibility for Eurojust to co-ordinate the execution of a request for judicial co-operation issued by a third state. The latter measure may be of practical benefit to our interactions with some third states. Council agreement will be required, however, before Eurojust enters into negotiations with any such country.
Most of what is contained in the proposed decision can and will be implemented in Ireland on an administrative basis. In the circumstances, I do not propose to go through the text of the decision article by article. However, I am advised that one aspect of the decision will require legislation and I want to deal with this in detail.
Articles 9a to 9f of the proposed Council decision relate to the powers of the Eurojust national members at national level. The conferral of some of the powers, as set out in these articles, on our Eurojust national member would interfere with the division of responsibilities between the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which is independent in the exercise of its functions, and the central authority for mutual assistance within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. This can best be resolved by providing that Ireland's Eurojust national member will act as a conduit for the transmission of requests for judicial co-operation to the central authority, which will remain responsible in law for dealing with the requests.
In accordance with the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008, requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal investigations or criminal proceedings are directed to the central authority for mutual assistance. These requests could relate to the taking of evidence in the state, the freezing, confiscation and forfeiture of property, the search for evidence or the service of documents. Article 9b provides that the national member shall be entitled to receive, transmit, facilitate, follow up and provide supplementary information in regard to the execution of requests for and decisions on judicial co-operation. Under the 2008 Act, requests must be made by the requesting authority under and in accordance with the relevant international instrument. The Attorney General's office has advised that it may be necessary to amend the Act to allow the central authority to receive requests for judicial co-operation forwarded by Eurojust members as opposed, for instance, to the judicial authority in another member state. Article 9c provides for a Eurojust national member, in agreement with the competent national authority, to execute requests for and decisions on judicial co-operation, order investigative measures and authorise and co-ordinate controlled deliveries. In our system these powers rest most appropriately with the relevant domestic authorities. Ireland can rely on the exemption article, 9f, so as not to be obliged to confer these powers on the Eurojust national member. Article 9d allows for the Eurojust national member, in urgent cases where it is not possible to identify the contact or contact the competent national authority in a timely manner, to authorise or co-ordinate controlled deliveries and execute a request for and a decision on judicial co-operation. Again, Ireland will rely on the exemption article, 9f, so as not to be obliged to confer these powers on the Eurojust national member.
The Council decision on Eurojust will assist in the fight against cross-border crime. It complements other recent initiatives on Europol and the European judicial network. Criminals do not respect or care much for national boundaries; sometimes they greatly benefit from such boundaries. Eurojust is a simple, practical measure to deal with crime which spans frontiers. We can implement nearly all the decisions on an administrative basis; however, for the reasons stated, we will be required to make legislative proposals on one small but important aspect. This will not require a Bill in its own right. The necessary amendment to the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008 will form one part of a criminal justice Bill.
I thank members for their co-operation in making time available to present the motion.
I thank the Minister for his presentation. On behalf of Fine Gael, I signal our support for the motion. It is essential we take appropriate measures to improve the co-ordination of cross-border investigations and co-ordination measures on prosecutions, a matter on which I trust the Minster will keep the committee informed of developments. I presume it will be some time next year before we see the draft legislation.
I thank the Deputy for his support. Eurojust is in place to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and assist member states in understanding each other's legal systems. There is a point of contact in each member state.
I thank the Minister and Deputy Flanagan.