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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/27/uk-to-withdraw-from-european-arrest-warrant
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| UK to withdraw from European arrest warrant | UK to withdraw from European arrest warrant |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Government document reveals plans to ditch tool that allows for fast extradition of criminals | Government document reveals plans to ditch tool that allows for fast extradition of criminals |
| The UK is to abandon a crucial tool used to speed up the transfer of criminals across borders with other European countries. | The UK is to abandon a crucial tool used to speed up the transfer of criminals across borders with other European countries. |
| Acting against the warnings of senior law enforcement officials, the government said it would not be seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant (EAW) as part of the future relationship with the European Union. | Acting against the warnings of senior law enforcement officials, the government said it would not be seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant (EAW) as part of the future relationship with the European Union. |
| In a document setting out the UK’s approach to negotiations with the EU, the government said: “The UK is not seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant as part of the future relationship. | In a document setting out the UK’s approach to negotiations with the EU, the government said: “The UK is not seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant as part of the future relationship. |
| “The agreement should instead provide for fast-track extradition arrangements, based on the EU’s surrender agreement with Norway and Iceland which came into force in 2019, but with appropriate further safeguards for individuals beyond those in the European arrest warrant.” | “The agreement should instead provide for fast-track extradition arrangements, based on the EU’s surrender agreement with Norway and Iceland which came into force in 2019, but with appropriate further safeguards for individuals beyond those in the European arrest warrant.” |
| Under the current arrangements, police forces, prosecutors and the National Crime Agency can apply for an EAW to effect a fast extradition of a criminal suspect from any EU member state, and likewise EU countries can apply to the UK to return fugitives. The European Commission has previously claimed that average extradition times have been reduced from one year to less than two months through the use of the EAW. | Under the current arrangements, police forces, prosecutors and the National Crime Agency can apply for an EAW to effect a fast extradition of a criminal suspect from any EU member state, and likewise EU countries can apply to the UK to return fugitives. The European Commission has previously claimed that average extradition times have been reduced from one year to less than two months through the use of the EAW. |
| From 2009/2010 to 2017/2018, the UK returned 9,853 EU nationals to their home states to face justice, and brought back 1,271 Britons over the same period. | |
| Before the arrest warrant existed it took 10 years to extradite Rachid Ramda from Britain to France over his role in the 1995 Paris metro bombing. In 2005 it took just 56 days to bring the failed 21/7 London tube bomber Hussain Osman back from Italy to London using an arrest warrant. | |
| Yvette Cooper MP, chair of the home affairs select committee, said: “The government’s new proposals for security cooperation with the EU are extremely worrying. | |
| “The announcement today made it plain that the UK is no longer seeking the kind of access to vital EU databases and security tools that would replicate our existing relationship, despite its own analysis stating repeatedly that failing to participate in existing tools would mean a serious loss of capability with damaging consequences for public safety. | |
| “The government’s new red lines make it exceedingly difficult for anything more than the standard third-country relationship with the EU on security cooperation to be negotiated. That is not good enough and marks a huge scaling back in ambition. The government only have six months before our existing security arrangements run out but the committee was told that it could take up to 18 months to ratify a new security treaty and possibly much longer for new extradition arrangements to replace the European rrest warrant. | |
| “It is completely astounding that the government says that these new plans will make the country safer when we have been told time and time again by senior police officers and security experts that the opposite is true.” | |
| After the EU referendum, the then NCA deputy director general, David Armond, said losing the EAW would be a “tricky” issue. | After the EU referendum, the then NCA deputy director general, David Armond, said losing the EAW would be a “tricky” issue. |
| “If we can’t stay in that we’ve got to negotiate a series of new treaties with overseas territories about what extradition will look like,” he said. | “If we can’t stay in that we’ve got to negotiate a series of new treaties with overseas territories about what extradition will look like,” he said. |
| Theresa May argued strongly in favour of the EAW when she was home secretary. Rejoining the warrant, which also allows for swift extradition of foreign offenders in the UK was put to a vote in 2014, ahead of which May said it was a vital tool for keeping Britons safe. | Theresa May argued strongly in favour of the EAW when she was home secretary. Rejoining the warrant, which also allows for swift extradition of foreign offenders in the UK was put to a vote in 2014, ahead of which May said it was a vital tool for keeping Britons safe. |
| Stephen Doughty, a Labour MP and member of the home affairs select committee said: “It is extraordinary that the the government is willing to put the security and safety of our citizens at risk – all in the name of ideological obsession – by pulling out of the European arrest warrant. | Stephen Doughty, a Labour MP and member of the home affairs select committee said: “It is extraordinary that the the government is willing to put the security and safety of our citizens at risk – all in the name of ideological obsession – by pulling out of the European arrest warrant. |
| “It is also deeply irresponsible to threaten to walk away from talks in June – which would not only threaten our economy, but also our safety and security. What price are they willing to pay? Or is it all an idle threat?” | “It is also deeply irresponsible to threaten to walk away from talks in June – which would not only threaten our economy, but also our safety and security. What price are they willing to pay? Or is it all an idle threat?” |
| The Brexit spokesman for the the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the deputy assistant commissioner Richard Martin, said: “Throughout the Brexit process police have been clear that we want to retain the capabilities of the EU tools we currently use and that remains the case. | |
| “We will continue to work with the government and EU partners in support of a deal that maintains close cooperation – in the interests of all UK and European citizens.” | “We will continue to work with the government and EU partners in support of a deal that maintains close cooperation – in the interests of all UK and European citizens.” |
| The UK is not seeking membership of Eurojust, an EU agency that works to coordinate investigations and prosecutions between EU member states when dealing with cross-border crime, the future relationship dossier says. | |
| In addition, the government says it wants access to information-sharing and exchange systems “similar” to those in place now, but stops short of seeking ongoing access to current arrangements including the Schengen Information System II (SIS II), the real-time alert mechanism for fugitives, the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) and the Prum system used for DNA exchanges. |