INDEX OF THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS CONVICTED
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (11453/06)
Letter from the Chairman to Joan Ryan
MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Home Office
This proposal was considered by Sub-Committee
E at its meeting of 25 October 2006.
We are in favour of the creation of an Index
of third-country nationals convicted of criminal offences in the
EU. In our view, this is essential in order to fill the gap left
by the proposed Framework Decision on the organisation and content
of the exchange of criminal record information between Member
States.
We note that the Government are awaiting the
information from the completed questionnaire issued to Member
States before committing to a view of how the index should work.
We agree that a cautious approach is required, particularly where,
as in the present case, there are serious concerns regarding the
reliability of data and use of biometric data is being discussed.
We consider that it is of the utmost importance to ensure that
the data contained in the proposed Index is up-to-date and permits
accurate identification of convicted individuals.
Given the potential difficulties of identification,
there may be a case for the inclusion of biometric data in the
Index. We would expect this to be used merely to confirm an individual's
identity and would have to be persuaded, with the support of hard
evidence, of the need for a biometrics search facility. In any
case, use of biometrics will require robust data protection provisions
and we trust that the Government will push for the inclusion of
such provisions in any future Commission proposal and during negotiations
on this instrument.
We would be grateful to hear your views on the
form the future Index should take once you have received the further
information sought by the Commission. What scope do you expect
there will be to influence the shape of any future Commission
proposal at that stage?
We have decided to hold the working paper under
scrutiny.
26 October 2006
Letter from Joan Ryan MP to the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 26 October with
the comments of Sub-committee E on the above Working Document.
I am pleased to note that the Committee is in
favour of the creation of such an index.
I note your comments relating to the reliability
of data and the need for that to be as up to date as possible.
I also note the need for robust data protection provisions to
be included and confirm that the Government will push for such
measures during negotiations.
Once the Commission have released the information
they previously sought, it is the intention of the Commission
to conduct further debate on the results and options for an index.
I would expect the UK Government to be able to present it's position
at those negotiations. However, I believe that it would be sensible
to see the outcome of the information sought by the Commission
before the UK's position is determined. At present there is no
set date for the Commission to release their findings.
7 December 2006
Letter from the Chairman to Joan Ryan
MP
This proposal was considered by Sub-Committee
E at its meeting of 10 January 2007.
We welcome your assurances that the Government
will push for robust data protection measures to be included in
any future proposal.
We note that you are awaiting the results of
the Commission questionnaire before adopting a position on the
Index. We would be grateful if you would provide us with a copy
of the Commission's findings as soon as they are available and
look forward to hearing your views on the proposed Index in due
course.
In the meantime, the working paper is retained
under scrutiny.
11 January 2007
Letter from Joan Ryan MP to the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 11 January 2007
with the comments of Sub-Committee E on the above Working Document.
I am sorry for the delay in replying.
I advised you previously that no date had been
set for the Commission to release its findings from questionnaires
submitted by Member States. This letter is by way of an update.
The Commission is still receiving questionnaires
from Member States, and the United Kingdom submitted its response
in September 2006.
The first priority in the Council is the Framework
Decision on the exchange of criminal records, and it is unlikely
that there will be further developments with regard to the index
of third country nationals until negotiations on the Framework
Decision have moved on significantly.
16 April 2007
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