EU Justice and Home Affairs Council (Hansard, 13 April 1999)

§ Kate Hoey

The United Kingdom's discussion paper on the mutual recognition of court decisions and judgments in criminal matters was submitted to the Article K4 Committee of the European Union on 29 March. It follows up the initiative of the United Kingdom Presidency at the Cardiff European Council, 13W the conclusions of which called on the Council to identify the scope for greater mutual recognition of decisions of each other's courts. The paper and an Explanatory Memorandum were deposited for scrutiny on 31 March and a copy of each has been placed in the Library.

The aim of the initiative is to develop a regime where each state recognises as valid certain pre and post conviction decisions of another member state's judicial authorities with the minimum of formality. Recognition would be given even though the decision has been taken under different laws and rules. The discussion paper develops this idea by setting out the current obstacles to judicial co-operation, current measures to improve judicial co-operation and suggestions on how mutual recognition could contribute towards the long-term development of judicial co-operation in the European Union.

Mutual recognition of all court decisions is unlikely to be achievable in the near future, but the paper envisages a work programme that identifies short to medium term objectives as well as long term goals, and the preparatory work needed in order to achieve them. The paper proposes that such a programme should include an examination of the following possible proposals: the enforcement of sanctions following criminal convictions; the possibility of dispensing with formal letters of request and dual criminality requirements for mutual legal assistance; the possible abolition of grounds for refusing extradition such as the political offence exception, dual criminality and restrictions of the extradition of member states' own nationals; the possibility of fast track extradition through mutual recognition of arrest warrants and convictions, or a new "Eurowarrant" system; and the possible mutual recognition of orders or warrants concerning assets or evidence.

The key underlying concept behind the paper is the principle that member states of the European Union should be able to have full confidence in each other's legal systems. Progress towards mutual recognition may therefore depend on agreeing common minimum standards and safeguards, for example on the treatment of suspects in custody and procedures for ensuring that the standards and safeguards are actually applied.

The issue of access to justice in civil matters falls within the ministerial responsibility of the Lord Chancellor. The paper is still in preparation, but it is intended that it will invite the member states to consider ways of making it easier for people from one European Union country to bring litigation in another, making use of the other member state's legal system. Notwithstanding the Brussels Convention, the costs of such litigation often make it uneconomic to pursue small and medium sized claims and there is clear evidence that the perceived difficulty in obtaining redress if things go wrong is a major deterrent to buying goods abroad. It is, therefore, a significant obstacle to the proper functioning of the internal market.

This initiative follows up a conference on resolving small claims across borders, hosted by the Lord Chancellor's Department during the United Kingdom Presidency of the European Union last year, and other initiatives already adopted by the Community including the Action Plan on Consumers' Access to Justice.