European Union (Eurojust) Regulations 2019

JurisdictionIreland
CitationIR SI 637/2019
Year2019

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 20th December, 2019.

I, CHARLES FLANAGAN, Minister for Justice and Equality, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving full effect to Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 20181 on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2002/187/JHA, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Eurojust) Regulations 2019.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on 12 December 2019.

2. In these Regulations, “Act of 2008” means the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008 (No. 7 of 2008).

3. Section 2(1) of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 (No. 45 of 2003) is amended by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “Eurojust”:

“ ‘Eurojust’ means the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation established by Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 20181 on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2002/187/JHA, which replaced and succeeded Eurojust as established by the said Council Decision 2002/187/JHA2 ;”.

4. Section 2 of the Act of 2008 is amended -

(a) in subsection (1) -

(i) by the deletion of the definition of “2009 Council Decision”,

(ii) in the definition of “international instrument” -

(I) by the deletion of paragraph (gd), and

(II) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (gc):

“(ge) the 2018 Regulation;”,

and

(iii) by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘2018 Regulation’ means Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2002/187/JHA1;”,

and

(b) in subsection (6) -

(i) by the deletion of paragraph (gb), and

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (ga):

“(gc) Schedule 7C sets out the English text of the 2018 Regulation,”.

5. Section 95 of the Act of 2008 is amended by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(3) The Minister may, in accordance with Article 20 of the 2018 Regulation, designate an authority or authorities as the Eurojust national correspondent or correspondents and, subject to subsection (4), any authority so designated has the functions assigned under that Regulation to such a correspondent.

(4) Where the Minister designates more than one authority as a Eurojust national correspondent pursuant to subsection (3), the Minister may specify the matter or matters for which each national correspondent being designated shall have responsibility.

(5) Where the Minister designates more than one authority as a Eurojust national correspondent pursuant to subsection (2) or (3), the Minister shall nominate one such correspondent to act as the correspondent with responsibility for the functioning of the Eurojust national coordination system in the State in accordance with Article 20(5) of the 2018 Regulation.”.

6. Section 95A of the Act of 2008 is amended -

(a) by the designation of that section as subsection (1),

(b) in subsection (1) -

(i) by the substitution of “2018 Regulation” for “2009 Council Decision”,

and

(ii) by the substitution of “that Regulation” for “that Council Decision”,

and

(c) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(2) The following persons or bodies shall, upon the request of the Eurojust national member, grant the member access to, or provide the member with the information contained in, the register or registers specified in paragraphs (a) to (k) in respect of the person or body concerned, in accordance with Article 9 of the 2018 Regulation, where such access or information is necessary for the performance by the member of the member’s functions:

(a) the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, in respect of registers held by the Garda Síochána relating to investigations, arrested persons and criminal records, including the Criminal Records Database and the database commonly known as PULSE;

(b) Forensic Science Ireland of the Department of Justice and Equality, in respect of the DNA Database System;

(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions, in respect of the case management system of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(d) the Courts Service, in respect of court records;

(e) the Revenue Commissioners, in respect of the case management system of the Commissioners;

(f) the Criminal Assets Bureau, in respect of the case management system of the Bureau;

(g) the Central Authority, in respect of the case management system of the Authority;

(h) the Central Authority in the State (within the meaning of section 3(1C) of the Extradition Act 1965 ), in respect of the case management system of the Authority;

(i) the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, in respect of the case management system of the Commission;

(j) the Director of Corporate Enforcement, in respect of the case management system of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement;

(k) any other public authority, in respect of a register held by the authority.

(3) Section 31 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 shall apply to the function of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána under subsection (2)(a) and a reference in that section to a function under that Act or under a provision of that Act shall be construed as including a reference to the function of the Commissioner under subsection (2)(a).

(4) Subsection (2) is without prejudice to an obligation or power to provide or request information under any other enactment or rule of law.

(5) In this section -

‘Criminal Records Database’ means the database maintained by the Garda Síochána that contains a record of convictions;

‘public authority’ means -

(a) a person or body established -

(i) by or under any enactment (other than the Companies Act 2014 or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act) or charter,

(ii) by any scheme administered by a Minister of the Government, or

(iii) under the Companies Act 2014 , or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under another enactment, and financed wholly or partly by means of money provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government,

or

(b) a company (within the meaning of Companies Act 2014), a majority of the shares in which are held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government;

‘register’ has the meaning it has in the 2018 Regulation.”.

7. The Act of 2008 is amended by -

(a) the deletion of Schedule 7B, and

(b) the insertion after Schedule 7A of Schedule 7C as set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

SCHEDULE

“SCHEDULE 7C

Text of 2018 Regulation

REGULATION (EU) 2018/1727 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 14 November 2018

on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2002/187/JHA

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 85 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1) ,

Whereas:

(1) Eurojust was set up by Council Decision 2002/187/JHA (2) as a Union body with legal personality, to stimulate and to improve coordination and cooperation between competent judicial authorities of the Member States, particularly in relation to serious organised crime. Eurojust’s legal framework has been amended by Council Decisions 2003/ 659/JHA (3) and 2009/426/JHA (4) .

(2) Article 85 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for Eurojust to be governed by a regulation, adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. It also requires determining arrangements for involving the European Parliament and national parliaments in the evaluation of Eurojust’s activities.

(3) Article 85 TFEU also provides that Eurojust’s mission is to support and strengthen coordination and cooperation between national investigating and prosecuting authorities in relation to serious crime affecting two or more Member States or requiring prosecution on common bases, on the basis of operations conducted and information supplied by the Member States’ authorities and by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol).

(4) This Regulation aims to amend and expand the provisions of Decision 2002/187/JHA. Since the amendments to be made are of substantial number and nature, Decision 2002/187/JHA should in the interests of clarity be replaced in its entirety in relation to the Member States bound by this Regulation.

(5) As the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has been established by means of enhanced cooperation, Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 (5) ) is binding in its entirety and directly applicable only to Member States that participate in enhanced cooperation. Therefore, for those Member States which do not participate in the EPPO, Eurojust remains fully competent for forms of serious crime listed in Annex I to this Regulation.

(6) Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) recalls the principle of sincere cooperation by virtue of which the Union and...

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