§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on discussions at EU level concerning the recognition of court judgments passed in one member state being automatically recognised in other member states. [128137]
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§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Tampere European Council strongly endorsed the concept of mutual recognition of judicial decisions, and asked the Council and Commission to adopt a programme of measures to implement the principle of mutual recognition, by the end of this year.
The possible contents of the programme of measures have been discussed in the European Union's Article 36 Committee and in other European Union working groups in the third pillar, on the basis of the United Kingdom's proposals. The European Commission has also held consultations on enforcement of foreign sentences. The incoming French Presidency is preparing to table a draft of the programme very shortly. A copy of this document will be deposited for Scrutiny. The programme is likely to include mutual recognition of decisions concerning the freezing of assets, arrest for purposes of extradition and execution of fines, imprisonment and other sentences imposed in another member state.
The Government intend to support further work on this issue, based on the conclusions of the Tampere European Council.