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The government has decided to adopt the new European investigation order (EIO) scheme, the home secretary has said.
In a Commons statement Theresa May said the current process of international law enforcement and judicial cooperation is slow, fragmented and confusing.
The EIO will simplify the process and provide deadlines, she said.
It offers practical help to police and prosecutors and not one police force objected to opting in. Acpo welcomed attempts to simplify and expidite legal assistance.
May reassured MPs there is no loss of sovereignty from EIO, a practical measure that makes it easier to serve justice.
A proportionality test will ensure police are not working on trivial offences.
The EIO does not allow foreign authorities to operate in the UK or direct British police forces.
Requests must be compatible with human rights and UK processes, such as getting a warrant, will also be carried out.
May said she will shape the draft directive to protect civil liberties and the EIO applies to defence lawyers so can be used to prove the innocence of Britons arrested abroad.
Shadow home secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the statement and asked May to rethink her approach on biometric passports so British citizens are not left behind the rest of the EU.
May said the government is treating each EU home affairs proposals on an individual basis.
At present 70 to 75 per cent of mutual legal assistance requests, the current system, are with EU nations so it makes sense to sign up to the EIO.
Bill Cash (Con, Stone) complained the European scrutiny committee has not considered the order and claimed foreign police were being given wide-ranging powers in the UK.
May said the timetable came before government in April, before the election, with a three month time limit. In the normal course of events the issue would have come before the committee.
She said he is wrong on the issue of powers for foreign police.
Keith Vaz said it is important that parliament scrutinise this "serious matter".
He asked about police resources and time taken up with requests.
May said many EU matters would benefit from greater scrutiny from parliament. It would have been easy to issue a written statement, but she wanted to come to the House and answer questions.
The EIO codifies and simplifies processes that already exist rather than a new process, she said.
Kate Hoey (Lab, Vauxhall) said more power was being taken away from the UK and John Redwood (Con, Wokingham) said that without an opt-out the UK was handing over sovereignty.
May said this is nothing new, but a simplification of existing arrangements that benefit UK police.
Article Comments
Any links to current information about how this works, which countries have signed-up already and how many requests are made/actioned per month - and how many have lead to successful prosecutions?
Paul Webster
28th Jul 2010 at 7:14 am
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