Before we commence I remind Senators that they may speak only once on Report Stage, except the proposer of an amendment who may reply to discussion on the amendment. Also, on Report Stage each non-Government amendment, of which I do not think there are any, must be seconded. Amendment No. 1 is a Government amendment and it arises from Committee proceedings. Amendments Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, and 7 to 11 inclusive, and 14, 16 and 17 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? It is agreed.
European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages
Government amendment No. 1:
In page 6, line 35, to delete “who” and substitute “whom”.
I thank the Acting Chair. All of these are technical amendments. Amendment No. 1 is a grammatical correction and I thank Senator Ward for bringing this to our attention. With regard to amendments Nos. 2, 3, 8 and 9, section 21A of the Act is being repealed and references to it, including references to the provision by which it was originally asserted, are being removed accordingly.
Amendments Nos. 4 and 10 clarify the application of section 15(5)(a) and section 16(5)(a) which deal with situation where surrender does not take place due to force majeure specifically to clarify an order further detaining the person is made only once and a new surrender date is fixed.
Amendments Nos. 7 and 14 correct cross-references. Amendments Nos. 11 and 17 correct typographical errors. Amendment No. 16 is a minor technical amendment to the transit provisions to clarify that they apply to a person when the extradition is ongoing.
I acknowledge and thank the Minister of State for accepting my amendment on Committee Stage.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 2:
In page 10, to delete line 27 and substitute the following:
“(i) in paragraph (c)—
(I) by the deletion of “21A,”, and
(II) by the substitution of “sections 80” for “sections 79, 80”,
and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 3:
In page 10, to delete line 31 and substitute the following:
“(i) in paragraph (c)—
(I) by the deletion of “21A,”, and
(II) by the substitution of “sections 80” for “sections 79, 80”,
and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 4:
In page 11, line 37, to delete “order” and substitute “on agreement of a date under subparagraph
(i), order”.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments Nos 5 and 12 are related and will be discussed together by agreement.
Government amendment No. 5:
In page 11, to delete lines 41 to 43, and in page 12, to delete lines 1 to 8 and substitute the following:
“(b) the High Court shall continue to apply the provisions of paragraph (a) for so long as it is satisfied that the person will not be surrendered before the expiration of the period specified under paragraph (a)(ii) because of circumstances beyond the control of the State or the issuing state concerned, and”.
Amendments Nos. 5 and 12 also deal with situations where surrender does not take place due to force majeure. These amendments address a technical issue with the amendments made to sections 15(5)(b) and section 16(5)(b) to clarify that it is the court rather than the central authority that must be satisfied that the force majeure circumstances continue to exist.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments Nos. 6 and 13 are related and will be discussed together by agreement.
Government amendment No. 6:
In page 13, line 3, to delete “without delay and,” and substitute “and Eurojust without delay, provide reasons as to why the proceedings have not yet been finalised and,”.
Amendments Nos. 6 and 13 clarify the obligations for the consideration of an appeal or an article 40 application, prevents the determination of surrender proceedings within the relevant time limit that the court causes the issuing judicial authority on Eurojust to be informed and clarifies the requirement to provide reasons when so doing.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 7:
In page 13, line 8, to delete “subparagraph (i)” and substitute “paragraph (a)”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 8:
In page 13, to delete line 22 and substitute the following:
“(iii) in paragraph (d)—
(I) by the deletion of “21A,”, and
(II) by the substitution of “sections 80” for “sections 79, 80”,
and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 9:
In page 13, to delete line 29 and substitute the following:
“(iii) in paragraph (c)—
(I) by the deletion of “21A,”, and
(II) by the substitution of “sections 80” for “sections 79, 80”,
and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 10:
In page 14, line 26, to delete “order” and substitute “on agreement of a date under subparagraph (i), order”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 11:
In page 14, line 29, to delete “subparagraph(i)” and substitute “subparagraph (i)”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 12:
In page 14, to delete lines 30 to 40 and substitute the following:
“(b) the High Court shall continue to apply the provisions of paragraph (a) for so long as it is satisfied that the person will not be surrendered before the expiration of the period specified under paragraph (a)(ii) because of circumstances beyond the control of the State or the issuing state concerned, and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 13:
In page 15, lines 26 to 28, to delete all words from and including “without” on line 26 down to “finalised,” on line 28 and substitute “and Eurojust without delay, provide reasons as to why the proceedings have not yet been finalised and, on conclusion of those proceedings”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 14:
In page 15, lines 32 and 33, to delete “subparagraph (i) of subsection (5)(a)” and substitute “paragraph (a)”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 15:
In page 17, to delete lines 3 to 6 and substitute the following:
“(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “the High Court, with the agreement of the issuing judicial authority, may direct that the person be temporarily surrendered to the issuing state” for “the High Court may, subject to such conditions as it shall specify, direct that the person be surrendered to the issuing state for the purpose of his or her being tried for the offence to which the relevant arrest warrant concerned relates”,”.
This addresses a limitation of the provisions in respect of temporary surrender in section 19 of the Act. This arises where a person has been sentenced in the state for a separate offence but their surrender is sought by the issuing state. The court has a discretion to allow their temporary surrender to be tried in the other state and determines the applicable conditions. This is being extended to allow service of a sentence in the other state. This is in line with the provisions of the framework decision.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 16:
In page 18, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:
“Amendment of section 28 of Act of 2003
18. Section 28(4) of the Act of 2003 is amended by the substitution of “is being” for “has been”.”.
Amendment agreed to.
Government amendment No. 17:
In page 21, line 15, to delete “Prosecutions and,” and substitute “Prosecutions, and”.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill, as amended, received for final consideration.
When is it proposed to take the next Stage?
Question, "That the Bill do now pass", put and agreed to.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 1.25 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 4 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 1.15 p.m. and resumed at 4 p.m.