This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Europe unites to tackle organised crime
13/06/2006
MSPs will hear how the Executive is co-operating with fellow European administrations to ensure Scotland is not a safe haven for criminals.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson will update Parliament's Justice 2 Committee this afternoon on the Executive's work on European Union Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) policies, including efforts to promote access to civil justice in areas such as family law.
Ms Jamieson said Scottish ministers support the principle of 'mutual recognition', allowing individual jurisdictions to work together effectively by recognising each others' court decisions, without having to pursue "wholesale harmonisation".
She said: "In an increasingly inter-connected world, we must work closely with other countries, both inside and outside the EU, to enhance and protect our citizens' freedoms and rights - by tackling organised crime - and also by improving access to civil justice.
"On the criminal front, globalisation offers increased opportunities for sophisticated criminal groups, who present challenges to our criminal justice system when they seek to operate in Scotland.
"That international dimension means we must have suitable counter measures which allow us to work effectively with our partners at home and abroad in the fight against organised crime.
"Equally, on the civil side, many significant projects are being taken forward which aim to make a real and positive impact on people's daily lives, as citizens in Scotland increasingly travel, work, study and live abroad."
The Minister is also highlighting recent EU-wide agreements on a proposed new European Evidence Warrant, minimum standards for tackling organised crime and on retaining communications data to help combat cross-border crime/terrorism.
Ms Jamieson will look back to the second half of 2005, when the United Kingdom held the Union's six-month rotating Presidency and a number of events were held in Edinburgh.
These included the a criminal justice conference hosted by the Academy of European Law in September and a meeting of the European Criminal Judicial Network in December, both of which were addressed by the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC.
The Minister also took part in a civil justice conference in October, jointly hosted by the Executive and the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which examined how to solve cross-border civil and family disputes.
On June 1 EU member state justice ministers reached an initial agreement on creating a new European Evidence Warrant. Once implemented, this will help tackle serious organised crime by ensuring cross-border evidence is provided more quickly.
In April EU member state justice ministers agreed a Framework Decision on Organised Crime, representing an important step in ensuring that there are consistent provisions in law across the Union to tackle organised crime.
The Data Retention Directive was adopted in March this year and is due to be implemented by late 2008. It will require telecommunications providers to retain traffic data for up to two years.