The European Investigation Order - foreign police, looking at YOU, without judicial oversight

As we've covered before, The European Investigation Order (EIO) is intended as a partner to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), to which Britain is already a signatory. Unless we opt out pronto, it is due to come into effect at the end of this month.

The EIO is intended to make it easier to gather evidence on another member state's soil. Amongst other things, it would grant foreign police the right to carry out the ‘real time’ interception of communications, monitor a person’s bank account, demand bodily samples, DNA or fingerprints from a person in another EU state. They would be able to order British officers to conduct undercover-spying missions, and pursue people for 'crimes' which are not recognised in UK law - such as the Portuguese offence of criminal defamation:

Other EU countries could demand the personal details of entire plane-loads of holidaymakers, and force hard-pressed British police to trail suspects on their behalf. The countries demanding the new powers on behalf of the European Union include ex-Eastern Bloc states Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovenia.

A decision will be taken in the next two weeks. Tory MP and friend of Big Brother Watch, Dominic Raab, raised his concerns in the Commons:

"Britain should not opt into this half-baked measure. It would allow European police to order British officers to embark on wild-goose chases. It would force our police to hand over personal information on British citizens, even if they are not suspects and the conduct under investigation is not a crime in this country. And it gives foreign police law enforcement authority on British soil. The Order won’t help tackle crime – it will waste police time and ditch safeguards that UK citizens expect from the British justice system."

Big Brother Watch understands that Raab's parliamentary colleague, civil liberties champion David Davis MP, is on the case - more on this as it emerges.

Fair Trials International points out that, under the EIO, the Spanish police investigating a murder in a nightclub to demand the ID of every British citizen who flew to the country in the month the offence took place. They could force the UK to search its DNA database - which contains the profiles of nearly one million innocent people - and send the Spanish police profiles of anybody on the database who was in Spain at the time. FTI is also concerned about UK police being obliged to investigate matters which are not even crimes here, such as the Portuguese offence of criminal defamation.

Worst of all, as barrister and former MP Jerry Hayes points out in strong terms, none of this even requires sign-off from a judge:

In its present form the EIO would allow any EU police force to start investigations and gather evidence on UK soil... where it offends against everything we hold sacred, is that no judicial authority is needed to verify whether there are reasonable grounds for an offence to have been committed. In this country the police can’t investigate on a whim, they have to have reasonable grounds to believe that someone is up to no good. So, potentially, every corrupt police officer in the pay of the Mafia in Southern Italy, could come over here, obtain your DNA and bank balances without going to obtain permission from a judge first. Insane. And downright dangerous.

A decision on the British position on the EIO is due by July 29.

But given all of the above, isn't it worth asking... why might we even think about entering into such a terrible arrangement?

Well, as the Mail points out, the Liberal Democrat manifesto contained a telling policy commitment: "Keep Britain part of international crime-fighting measures such as the European Arrest Warrant, European Police Office, Eurojust, and the European Criminal Records Information System."

A Government spokesman said the coalition was 'actively considering whether or not to opt in to the proposed EIO':

''The coalition agreement states that the Government 'will approach forthcoming legislation in the area of criminal justice on a case by case basis, with a view to maximising our country's security, protecting Britain's civil liberties and preserving the integrity of our criminal justice system.''

We'll see.

By Alex Deane

Comments

[Bob Satwa]

Whatever happened to the principle that no none should have to offer evidence of their own guilt? - Oh! That was chucked away back in 1968 when Barbara Castle introduced the Breathyliser!

[Andrew Ampers Taylor]

It'll happen, and once again the people of these islands are allowing another nail in their coffins because they won't take to the streets to fight this insidious erosion of all their rights (not the best word, rights) but I am too angry to think straight.

[guy herbert]

The capability for data trawls in the absence of a warrant may be outrageous, but it *already* applies to British police. I'm afraid Jerry Hayes is being rather idealistic when he says: 'In this country the police can’t investigate on a whim, they have to have reasonable grounds to believe that someone is up to no good.' In practice their suspicion need not need not be reasonable or specific to pick on you in a dragnet operation.

The contrast between British and continental official behaviour is not nearly as clear as Daily Mail headlines would have it. In some ways this is just extending *our* existing lack of privacy EU-wide.

[Redacted]

Wasn't this project introduced under the UK's aegis in the beginning?

[stephen hoffman]

we've opted in from the statement's i read in the House of Lords Today this was stated by Baroness Neville Jones in the House of Lords speaking on behalf of the government. Apparently theres an option to opt out, but can you really see the British government following it's present policy line on the EU of negotiating our opt out.

we have lost even more control of our judicial and police activities to eu member states and in particular other eu member state's police forces where for example in countries such as bulgaria police brutality is common.

The european investigation order will work hand in hand with the european arrest arrant which came into law after september 11th to supposedly to protect us from terrorists but has actually not protected us from terrorists, but instead undermined many innocent people's rights to a fair trial and protection from extradition. uk citizens can be extradited to other countries to be arrested for minor cases-as happened with Andreas Symou when he was arrested by the greek authorities for a crime he didn't even committ. Thus showing that this alone had led to massive abuses of the freedoms of british citizens.

The european investigation order takes this even further at a time when we ourselves as the ian tomlinson incident showed and the powers given by ripa to police - worry us that we have given to much power to our own national police, which has led to abuse and a lack of protection of UK citizens from what is becoming increasingly a police state, this makes the situation much much worse.

This is because now police authorities from other countries now have these powers, they have the power to spy through our bank statments, to look through other data, and they can do all this by making simple requests of british police which the British police must i repeat must obey, in other words it is an order not a request. there data safeguards are even worse than ours- so there is on a greater scale more chance of our data going missing and our privacy exposed, and further more us the average british citizen not just being spied on by british police but by european police.

In doing all of this we hand over our police and judicial powers to the EU which has a very bad decision of undermining member state's liberties, due to its consistent undermining of sovereignty. the EIO is an example of this where the EU's attempted harmonisation of police and judicial policy across the EU has put liberty in danger.

Apparently this doesn't break the coalition government's non existent referendum lock which said if there was any attempt of significant extension of EU powers would trigger it. This is it yet we are not seeing a referendum on the case.

the duplicity goes even further than this im afraid though. The government through a house of lords statement in the 15th of july said they wanted more scrutiny of EU laws etc and eu work,and that it had been lacking in the last parliament. Yet the European Investigation Order has been railroaded through parliament, from orders upon high from our political masters the EU. No proper debate was allowed and there was no vote on such a substantial piece of legislation, even though more time to debate was called for by amongst others people like dominic raab in the house of commons and lord stoddart in the house of lords.

Oh and all the bureaucracy which will be created will mean that we the taxpayer gets to pay for the privilege of losing our liberties, as the EU will probably say to meet the demands of the European Investigation Order there will have to be an increase in the EU budget and thus are contributions will skyrocket even further.

Supposedly this coalition's government was to stop further powers going to the EU and in fact repatriate powers from the EU to the UK in particular the UK parliament. Additionally the coalition government was supposedly commmitted to protected UK's citizens individual freedoms. In opting into this law, the Coalition has shown that for all their words, when push came to shove, they preferred to let our liberties wither away at the altar of the EU, rather than stand up for the national interest and protect our hard won liberties which has been earned over centuries.

[Nick Brazil]

With Theresa May's offhand agreement to the EIO in Parliament last week this insane, anti democratic and sinister piece of legislation will become law in this country very shortly. Perhaps what is more scandalous than this government's complete about turn on such euro laws is the deafening silence from most of the media in this country on this important matter. I have not heard one mention of it on the BBC, ITV or Sky. Even Liberty appears silent on the EIO. Future generations will be right to judge us harshly for giving away our democratic rights so easily and ask: How did they let this happen?

[He's Spartacus]

Please join the Campaign for Britain to opt out of the European Arrest Warrant.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=116388548411257&v=info

Thank you.

[Gary Thompson]

would not the magna carter and the Bill of rights stop any of this. They can not sign our right or souvreinty away. Its for the people only to decide that not parliment or any other body including the Queen. It is against the law and it treason.

[supra skytop]

Genius only means hard-working all one's life.