European Arrest Warrant
European arrest warrant
From the Director of the European Movement
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-1794378,00.html
Sir, The swift extradition from Rome of the London bomb suspect, Hussain Osman (report, September 23), is a salient illustration of the viability of the new European arrest warrant (EAW).
By invoking the EAW British authorities were able to bypass Italy’s supposed byzantine judicial system months, if not years, earlier than could otherwise have been expected. The warrant truly is a piece of EU red tape that dramatically reduces bureaucracy.
Adopted in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the new extradition framework recognises that co-operation in the face of global terrorism is a necessity requiring all EU member states to trust each other’s judicial systems.
Much opposition on alleged civil liberties grounds marked the EAW’s passage through Parliament, but Britain’s decision to undertake this judicial leap of faith has now been vindicated. The warrant should be regarded as a threat to terrorism, not to civil liberties.
DAVID STEPHEN
One would have expected the Europhiles to crow about this one and of course they have not disappointed.
Of course it dramatically reduces bureaucracy by the same amount it also reduces civil liberties, we could argue for a total removal of bureaucracy and dispense with civil liberties completely.
Stephen says it is a “necessity requiring all EU member states to trust each other’s judicial systems.†But it also means that we are placed under an obligation to obey all other state`s laws, it also means that our government who have a duty to protect their own citizens, have reneged on that commitment. It is a removal of our rights to elect and dismiss the people who make our laws, we are no longer ruled by our consent but by elitist fiat.
