Legal move closes loopholes used to avoid extradition
CRIME suspects wanted elsewhere in Europe will no longer be able to escape the law because of a legal technicality.
Suspects arrested here in the past have exploited minor defects in the law to prevent a European arrest warrant from being successful in the High Court.
But loopholes in the European arrest warrant (EAW) legislation have been sealed off in a series of amendments, which have come into force this week.
Statistics published yesterday showed that the arrest warrant, which was introduced in 2004, has become a vital tool in speeding up the extradition process within the EU.
A total of 73 suspects were handed over by the Irish courts to other EU member states during the past year, according to the arrest warrant annual report. The majority of those, 32, were sent to the UK, followed by Poland (17) and the Czech Republic (7).
Ireland received 198 European arrest warrants in 2008 and offences cited included murder, rape, drug trafficking and assault/robbery.
Success
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said last night that the arrest warrant had been a real success in terms of improving law enforcement across the EU.
Since the law came into operation, Ireland has handed over a total of 194 people and received 87 suspects from other EU member states.
The altered legislation now means that gardai can arrest a person without a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is already wanted on a European arrest warrant.
- Tom Brady
