THE EU: Amnesty International has called on the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to take urgent action to protect the rights of citizens who are subject to a European arrest warrant, writes Denis Staunton from Brussels
The European arrest warrant was due to come into force throughout the EU on January 1st, but seven of the 15 member-states have yet to introduce it, partly over human rights concerns.
In a letter to Mr McDowell, the director of Amnesty's EU office, Mr Dick Oosting, urges the Irish presidency to move swiftly to fill a "legislative gap" relating to the arrest warrant, which simplifies and speeds up extradition.
"Amnesty International acknowledges the importance of the European arrest warrant as a means of combating transnational and organised crime, such as trafficking in human beings and 'terrorism' which constitute, in themselves, a grave threat to human rights. However, the effective application of the European arrest warrant requires the EU to establish and maintain high standards across the EU in order to breed genuine mutual trust between independent judicial authorities," Mr Oosting said.
Amnesty blames the European Commission for failing to come up with a proposal to ensure the protection of citizens' rights in relation to the arrest warrant but says that the Irish presidency must now take action.
"Amnesty International calls on the presidency to ensure that fundamental rights and freedoms are fully guaranteed in practice across the EU in parallel to the application of the European arrest warrant as a matter of urgency," Mr Oosting said.
EU justice and home affairs ministers will discuss the implementation of the European arrest warrant when they meet in Brussels today.
They will also discuss minimum standards for the granting of refugee status and for the treatment of asylum-seekers.
Mr McDowell hopes to secure agreement on a common approach to asylum by May 1st, but each attempt to agree common standards has met political resistance from some member-states.