Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The review will proceed without delay but, equally, it will be a careful review without undue haste. The frequent amendments to the Act are a caution against the rush to reform. It is desirable that we ensure any difficulties that might be anticipated in so far as possible can be anticipated and addressed in the functioning of the legislation. We all know that the nature of legislation is such that, arising from court judgements or unexpected circumstances, flaws that had not been anticipated are discovered and require further amendment. A comprehensive job will be done and I hope it will prove helpful.

Deputy Humphreys suggested jurisdiction to hear European arrest warrant extradition cases might be transferred to the District Court from the High Court, with a view to reducing cost. This is an interesting suggestion but it cannot be addressed the isolation. The legal and other implications in the proposal, and the question of whether it would realise the apparent savings, require careful consideration. We will address the issue in the review of the legislation. On the surface, it might facilitate the processing of applications with less expense and greater speed, particularly those that are not contended. In my recollection as a legal practitioner, when the District Court exercised certain jurisdiction in extradition matters, it inevitably resulted in a substantial number of cases being the subject to judicial review in the High Court. Rather than providing a more cost effective means of dealing with matters, it ultimately proved to elongate court proceedings and add to legal costs substantially. I am concerned that if this jurisdiction were exercised in the District Court, those who justifiably and properly should be the subject of extradition from this State, or who should be transferred to another European Union state using the European arrest warrant procedure, would seek to prolong matters resulting in this State incurring unnecessary legal costs in circumstances where it is unjustifiable. Thus, a substantial proportion of cases determined at District Court level would ultimately be replayed in judicial review proceedings in the High Court. That issue requires consideration and we will pay some attention to it.

A number of Deputies, including Deputy O'Brien and Deputy Daly, have cited the European Commission's report on the implementation of the European arrest warrant system in support of their contention that it is a flawed system. The report is an indication of how transparent the system is. I refer to the facts that it is being kept under review and that difficulties that arise are being commented on and considered so as to facilitate their being addressed in a uniform manner across the European Union. As might be expected, unfortunately, the extracts of the report used by the Deputies entailed a very selective reading. They ignored those parts of the report, or the bulk thereof, that do not support their arguments. The Deputies ignored the finding in the report that the European arrest warrant "has undoubtedly reinforced the free movement of persons within the EU by providing a more efficient mechanism to ensure that open borders are not exploited by those seeking to evade justice". It is true that the Commission acknowledges that the European arrest warrant, despite its operational success, is not perfect. I am not claiming perfection for it.

The report points to the progress being made on measures establishing minimum procedural rights across the Union under the roadmap on procedural rights. While Deputies have bemoaned the lack of a proportionality test regarding the issuing of a European arrest warrant, none has mentioned that section of the report which deals with this issue. Paragraph 5 of the report sets out in detail the amendment to the handbook on how to issue a European arrest warrant, which provides expressly for a proportionality check. On listening to some of the Deputies opposite, one would be forgiven for believing Ireland's role in the European arrest warrant system is merely to surrender its citizens to other states. It seems to have escaped their attention that the system is a mutually reciprocal one and that Ireland has also had people surrendered to it from other states who had sought to evade justice here.

In 2010, 26 persons were surrendered to Ireland on foot of European arrest warrants. Offences committed in this State in respect of which European arrest warrants were issued by Ireland included murder, sexual offences, drug offences, assault, robbery and arson. I do not believe Deputies O'Brien, Halligan or Daly would seek to argue in this House that those properly charged with murder, sexual assault, robbery, arson or drug offences should not be extradited back to this State to have their cases properly determined and prosecuted here.

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