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The UK Government has set out its vision for cooperation with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice post Brexit.
The vision includes developing a “deep and special” partnership with the EU to help prevent, detect, criminal and terrorist activity across the UK’s borders.
The future partnership paper calls for a comprehensive model for cooperation between the UK and EU on security, law enforcement and criminal justice — reflecting that Britain’s operational processes and data sharing systems are already uniquely aligned with the EU.
The three core objectives for these new arrangements are:
Protecting the safety and security of citizens and upholding justice in the UK and across the EU;
Maintaining the closest and most cooperative partnerships between Britain and the 27 EU member states; and
Continuing to cooperate on the basis of our shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law.
The Government highlights that the UK has been one of the leading contributors to the development of effective information sharing and law enforcement cooperation at an EU level – working through agencies such as Europol to bring criminals to justice and prevent crime taking place.
It says that Britain will remain committed to the security of the European continent after Brexit, and the determination to protect the safety and security of EU citizens as well as UK citizens will not diminish.
“Together with the EU we have developed some of the world’s most sophisticated systems in the fight against crime — because cross-border cooperation is absolutely crucial if we’re to keep our citizens safe and bring criminals to justice,” explained Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis.
“That is why we want to build a new partnership with the EU that goes beyond any existing relationship it has with non-member states, so we can continue countering these cross-border threats together,” he added.
The benefits of international cooperation in tackling crime were demonstrated in a recent operation coordinated by Europol that led to six arrests in five EU Member States, including the UK.
The initial investigation started in February 2016 when several Romanian truck drivers were caught smuggling cocaine into the United Kingdom. This traffic was quickly linked to an international crime group trafficking cocaine between South America and Europe, with links to Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania. After coordination meetings were held at Eurojust and Europol, several parallel investigations were initiated in the relevant Member States.
Europol reports that due to the excellent international cooperation that has developed over the past few years, law enforcement agencies were able to identify the suppliers, buyers and lorry drivers. During the initial stages of the investigations, intelligence about the crime group was gathered and 35 kilos of cocaine, 200 kilos of cannabis and 54 kilos of ketamine were seized.
A joint day of action was agreed between the relevant agencies that led to simultaneous searching of 28 houses and premises and the arrest of six suspects.
If you have been charged with a criminal offence, including drugs offences, then contact our specialist criminal defence lawyers today.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
