Formal minutes
Wednesday 25 June 2003
Members present:
| Mr William Cash | Miss Anne McIntosh
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| Mr Michael Connarty | Mr Jim Marshall
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| Tony Cunningham | Angus Robertson
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| Mr Wayne David | Mr Anthony Steen
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| Jim Dobbin | |
In the absence of the Chairman, Mr Jim Marshall was called to
the Chair.
The Committee deliberated.
Draft Report [The Convention's proposals on criminal justice],
proposed by the Chairman, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph
by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 3 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 4 to 13 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 14 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 2, to leave out from 'actions,' to
'We' in line 5 and insert 'but we do not believe it should extend
beyond co-operation.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 15 and 16 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 17 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, after 'witnesses' to insert 'correctly'.
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 18 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 6, to leave out from 'to' to the end
of line 8 and add 'pivot the role of national governments and
parliaments by making provision for their co-operation in defining
the strategic guidelines and priorities for European criminal
justice policy and preserving the national veto.' — (Mr
William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 19 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 20 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 5, at the end to insert 'We agree,
and we also reject the notion of collective actions by national
parliaments.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 21 read.
Motion made, to leave out paragraph 21 and insert the following
new paragraph:
'We see no evidence that subsidiarity has been applied. We reaffirm
that unanimity is required.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 22 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraphs 23 and 24 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 25 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 7, to leave out 'this more active
role' and insert 'unanimity'. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 26 and 27 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 28 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 6, to leave out from 'pillars' to
the end of line 7. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 29 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 30 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 7, at the end to add 'We agree.' —
(Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 31 to 33 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 34 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 2, to leave out from 'whilst' to 'The'
in line 3 and insert 'insisting on the final say resting with
national governments and parliaments.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 35 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 36 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, after 'We' to insert 'do not'.
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Another Amendment proposed, in line 4, at the end to add 'and
we reaffirm our view that unanimity is required whilst accepting
that some co-operation may be useful.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 37 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 12, at the end to add 'We agree and
we reject Mr Hain's acceptance of framework laws being governed
by QMV.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 38 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 39 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 8, at the end to add 'We regard this
principle of unanimity as essential.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 40 to 42 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 43 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, after 'present' to insert 'we are
glad to note that'. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Another Amendment proposed, in line 14, after 'Warrant' to insert
'as respects which we have grave objections as it is now agreed.'
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 44 and 45 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 46 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 9, at the end to add 'We agree.' —
(Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 47 and 48 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 49 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 6, to leave out from 'be' to the end
of line 9 and insert 'rejected.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 50 to 53 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 54 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 14, at the end to add 'We agree.'
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 55 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 7, at the end to add 'We agree.' —
(Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 56 and 57 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 58 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 10, at the end to add 'i.e. we reaffirm
the principle of unanimity.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 59 to 62 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 63 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 3, after 'field.' to insert 'We disagree.'
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 64 to 66 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 67 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 17, at the end to add 'We agree.'
— (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 68 and 69 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 70 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 5, after 'extended' to insert 'at
all nor'. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 71 read, amended and agreed to.
Paragraph 72 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, after 'Treaty' to insert 'and we
reject the idea.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 73 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 74 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 9, at the end to add 'We note that
the idea of a European Public Prosecutor would fundamentally override
the UK system of Crown Prosecutors and we reject the idea.' —
(Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 75 and 76 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 77 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 7, at the end to add 'We agree.' —
(Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraphs 78 to 81 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 82 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 1, to leave out 'look forward to'
and insert 'insist on'. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 83 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 5, after 'legislation.' to insert
'Indeed we object to the development of this idea in principle
because we regard criminal law and procedure as an inviolable
attribute of national law.' — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Paragraph 84 read.
Amendment proposed, in line 19, after 'States' to insert 'i.e.
by unanimity'. — (Mr William Cash.)
Question, That the Amendment be made, put and negatived.
Paragraph agreed to.
Annex [Summary] amended and agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report, as amended, be the Twenty-sixth Report
of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chairman do make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That the provisions of Standing Order No. 134 (Select
committees (reports)) be applied to the Report.
Several Papers were ordered to be appended to the Minutes of Evidence.
Ordered, That the Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence taken
before the Committee be reported to the House. — (The Chairman).
* * *
[Adjourned till Wednesday 2 July at half-past Two o'clock.
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