European Union leaders are expected to agree a new European arrest warrant today that would make extradition for some offences automatic with the Union.
The legislation necessary to allow Ireland to sign up to the agreement has been passed by the Dβil. Italy abandoned its opposition to the warrant, thereby enhancing the prospect of agreement between EU leaders attending a summit in Belgium today.
Italy had been blocking the introduction of the arrest warrant, which will make extradition for certain offences automatic within the EU.
However, it made a dramatic reversal following a visit to Rome earlier this week by Belgium's Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt. He had talks with the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, who argued that the scope of the warrant is too broad.
The arrest warrant distinguishes between human trafficking and human smuggling, with higher penalties for trafficking.
During the Dβil debate, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said our EU partners, once they understood the constitutional difficulties, were prepared to be accommodating. "Several provisions in the original draft proposal for a European arrest warrant gave rise to concern on constitutional grounds, but important adjustments have been made, so that all but one of these have now been fully addressed."
Ireland was concerned to ensure the safeguards to protect the individual's rights and liberties were adequately protected, he said.
"A proper balance needed to be found between the need to protect society at large while retaining the long-established safeguards that have been a feature of extradition law heretofore. We have achieved that balance," Mr O'Donoghue said.
The proposal for a European arrest warrant has at its core the concept of mutual recognition and respect for the judicial processes of the member-states of the EU, he explained.
"It is important to emphasise that the European arrest warrant applies between EU member-states only and that existing arrangements with non-EU states will continue to apply," he said.
Fine Gael and Labour pointed out that there had been little time allowed in the Dβil to discuss what were "very complex" EU proposals involving a radical change in extradition laws.