We will be withdrawing from the European arrest warrant.
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.
Good! This vile idea was something beloved of totalitarian despots across Europe (looking at you, Mrs May) and meant that Britons could be arrested in this country for something that is not illegal in this country on the basis of Roman/Napoleonic law. Fuck that, frankly.
And this is why it is so nasty:
Under the European arrest warrant (EAW), established in 2002, EU countries can request citizens for trial from fellow countries within the bloc without outlining the evidence. Critics say this has led to a series of unfair cases.
In the case cited, Mitchell had been acquitted seventeen years previously, but the Portuguese prosecutors thought they would have another stab at it.
Mitchell said British police informed him that they were told the planned charge was first degree murder, an impossibility given that the German man is still alive.
And at that time, Dominic Raab had something to say about this scheme:
A review of the extradition system by Sir Scott Baker, a retired judge, concluded that the EAW was “operating broadly satisfactorily”.
This conclusion was wrong, said Dominic Raab, a Conservative MP who has campaigned on the issue. Baker’s review had failed to speak to any victims of EAW abuses, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “The fundamental problem with the EAW is that there is an assumption that all justice systems across Europe are the same,” he said, while in fact some were either “corrupt or incompetent”.
Precisely. This issue alone was worth voting to leave the EU. So it is nice to see the government doing the right thing for once. Ditching this piece of evil is an excellent step forwards and a good day for liberty. One small step, but a step forward, nonetheless.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – so I hope they keep stepping.
And not Goose Stepping …
“…while in fact some were either “corrupt or incompetent”.”
Which one’s ours?
Both.
But less so than those of our European counterparts.
The Spanish tried to extradite Clara Ponsati (Catalonian politician) from Scotland using an international arrest that we kicked into the long grass. A year later they went after her using the european one.
Mind you, she’s still in Scotland – and the fact she faces a 10 year sentence (essentially a death sentence as she’s 63) doesn’t sit well with the SNP who’d like to do much the same thing as Catalonia.
I believe that was the same legal method used on those who exiled to Belgium.