The Department of Justice received 91 European arrest warrants this year, the Minister told a Dáil committee yesterday.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell told the Joint Oireachtas Committees on European Affairs and on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights that 68 of the warrants were endorsed by the High Court and 41 arrests were made on foot of them.
He said the warrants were important examples of mutual recognition initiatives in the EU supported by Ireland.
"An important focus of mutual recognition is to ensure that criminals cannot evade justice because of differences in legal systems."
The Minister was discussing Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) issues facing Ireland in the EU. JHA deals with issues central to the security and freedom of European citizens, including immigration, asylum and judicial co-operation, and policing.
Mr McDowell said the powers and duties conferred on the EU and those retained for the member states must be critically monitored and maintained.
He fully supported co-operation between gardaí and police forces in other European states, but conceded that a satisfactory network with other police forces in Europe had not yet been established.
He also raised concerns about Article 42 of the new EU treaty which would allow movement of the sensitive areas of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters to qualified majority voting instead of unanimous voting. "Using Article 42 would amount to cherry-picking of the JHA provisions of the European constitution."
He said the correct way to improve police and judicial co-operation was by improving practical co-operation.
