Information swap to target criminals across the EU

CRIMINALS throughout Europe will find it increasingly difficult to hide from their past as EU Justice Ministers have agreed to swap information between member states.

This is a step towards setting up a European-wide database to include anybody in the EU with a conviction, and which will be available to police forces throughout the Union.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell welcomed the decision and said it would ensure that offenders got equal treatment in all member states.

“We are 100% behind it” he said and added that he would have it operating in Ireland as soon as possible.

It means that when a person from another member state is tried for example in Ireland, the judge will be given details of any other conviction he or she has in any other EU country and will be able to take this into account in sentencing.

Minister McDowell said he is also very much in favour of the proposal to set up an EU-wide data base that will include the names and details of everybody with a conviction.

“We have no problem at all with that. Ireland and Britain exchange all that information at the drop of a hat,” he said.

He agreed information should also be available for civil proceedings as well as for any other purpose in accordance with national law.

This would mean that if a person was a convicted paedophile for example and had applied for a job in another country, this information could be given to the relevant authority, he said.

There is still some disagreement about how long information about a person and their conviction should remain in the database.

The exact format of the electronic database will be decided next year during the German presidency.