Corpus Juris (Hansard, 15 May 2000)

§ Mr. Gill
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is regarding Corpus Juris; and if he will make a statement. [121670]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The House of Lords European Union Committee's inquiry into Corpus Juris concluded in May last year that the Corpus Juris proposals do not offer an acceptable way forward. The Government share that view. Although we fully share the objective of the Corpus Juris paper to provide more effective remedies against fraud affecting the European Community budget, the Government do not agree that this should be done by "unifying" the laws and procedures of all member states. We believe that the aims of Corpus Juris can best be achieved by improvements in judicial co-operation between member states as agreed at the Tampere European Council, including mutual recognition of judicial decisions and the creation of Eurojust.

§ Mr. Gill
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on mutual recognition in relation to Corpus Juris. [121666]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
On the basis of a United Kingdom initiative, European Union Heads of Government at the Tampere European Council endorsed the concept of mutual recognition of judicial decisions and stated that itshould become the cornerstone of judicial co-operation in both civil and criminal matters within the Union.
Unlike Corpus Juris, mutual recognition does not involve "unifying" the laws and procedures of the member states of the Union. Decisions taken in other European Union jurisdictions could be recognised and enforced despite the differences in the member states' legal systems.
The Government have made it clear that some agreed safeguards would be necessary in order to protect civil rights; for example for any changes to extradition arrangements between member states. The need for common minimum standards, respecting the fundamental legal principles of member states, was also recognised at Tampere.