Raad Justitie bespreekt o.a. belangrijke strafrechtelijke onderwerpen en agentschap mensenrechten (en)
The agenda for next Monday's meeting of the EU justice ministers includes significant projects in the area of criminal justice and the establishment of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. The meeting in Brussels led by Finland's Minister of Justice Leena Luhtanen has the goal of deciding that in future criminal justice proceedings will take account of sentences previously imposed on the offenders in other EU member states. The ministers will also try to reach a decision on transfer of prisoners within the EU.
According to the new regulations on taking past sentences into consideration, past criminal records would be taken into account in the same way in new court proceedings regardless of whether previous sentences were imposed in the defendant's home country or in another EU member state. At present, sentences handed down abroad are not usually taken into consideration in court proceedings. The reform would increase equality among EU citizens, since the place where a crime is committed would no longer be important in determining the punishment.
On Monday Minister Luhtanen plans to present the ministers with a compromise package, arrived at through difficult negotiations, that would make it easier to transfer prisoners to their home countries. The project is one of the priorities for Finland's EU presidency. The aim of the reform is to increase the proportion of sentences served in the prisoner's home country, where he or she will have the best chance to reintegrate into society after release from prison. At present member states do not have the obligation to accept prisoners who have been sentenced outside their borders, and the procedure for transferring prisoners is slow and awkward.
In order that the EU Fundamental Rights Agency should begin operating at the beginning of next year as provided by the European Council, the Council should reach agreement on its founding on Monday. The Fundamental Rights Agency would collect, analyse and disseminate information about fundamental rights within the scope of EU law. It would also publish for exampel an annual report on the state of fundamental rights in the European Union. The Agency would continue the work begun by the Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. The most important open questions have to do with the Agency's operations in the area of police and criminal justice co-operation, and the way the EU applicant countries and the western Balkan countries will participate in the operations of the Agency.
The Council intends to confirm conclusions relating to the review of the Hague Programme. As President of the European Council, Finland has had the task of reviewing progress by the EU in justice and home affairs. According to the review by the Chairman, on the basis of the Hague Programme and the earlier Tampere Programme, it has been possible to reach many important decisions in areas such as co-operation between criminal justice and civil law. However, some of the objectives recorded in the Programme have still to be achieved. The review is based among other things on the discussions at the informal Council of Ministers meeting in Tampere. In its conclusions the Council emphasises for example the issue of mutual recognition, which continues to be an important focus of interest.
For further information please contact:
Sebastian Sass, EU coordinator for Minister Luhtanen, tel. +358 9 1606 7520, gsm +358 50 525 2672, special advisors Mari Aalto, tel. +32 2 2878 431, gsm +32 475 973074, Harri Sivula, tel. +32 2 2878 594, gsm +32 475 751495 and Joni Heliskoski, tel. +32 2 2878 625, gsm +32 2 473 485 024
During the meeting, media representatives can also contact Pirkko Kauppinen, director of the Media and Communications Unit, gsm +358 50 565 81 73.
The open sessions of the meeting and the press conferences will be webcast and can be viewed live on the Internet at the Presidency website, www.eu2006.fi.