Criminal Law
European Arrest Warrant Act 2003: Procedures and Problems. “A Serious Trivial Problem”
In the EU, “extradition” is by means of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Any member state may issue an EAW and request its execution in any other member state. Very serious problems can arise in the system. The EAW system is professedly based on the high regard that the national judiciaries have for each other. In fact, they do not have such a high regard for each other. Notwithstanding, like characters in a Samuel Beckett play, they “go on” with […]
“Dr. Livingstone, I infer?
Henry Stanley got things wrong when he met Dr. Livingstone. On meeting him, he records, he said; “Dr. Livingstone, I presume? The Oxford Dictionary indicates that “presume”, as used by Stanley, conveys he is supposing that something is the case on the basis of probability. On his own account, he was being absurdly careful. As Stanley well knew, white men in that location at that time were unknown. So, of course, the man he was meeting was probably Livingstone. However, […]
The National Risk Assessment for 2014
The Taoiseach has published the Draft National Risk Assessment for 2014. The good news is that, by implication, there will be another in 2015 and that it is open for public comments until the 30th June. The bad news is that, in briefly harking back to the past, it fails to correctly describe what really happened. Then there’s the tone; the authors never question the possibility that they are not competent to write the Assessment. Presumably, they followed the nostrum […]
Carry on…
In Damache v DPP, Ireland & the Attorney General, IESC [2101], (“Damache”) the Supreme court decided that Section 29(1) of the Offences against the State Act, 1939 (as inserted by s. 5 of the Criminal Law Act, 1976) was unconstitutional. The Section permitted a person, not independent of an investigation, to issue a search warrant for the purposes of the investigation. The court found that a police officer engaged in an investigation is not an independent person for these purposes and […]
Looking East
Trenitalia is Italy’s national train system. Being national, it is open to political interference in the form of over-manning. Other things being equal, this is good for passengers and employees. Ireland can have nothing to say about this situation. Irish citizens, likewise, must confine their reflections on Italian train travel to their memoirs. The USA also has a bloated and inflated industry; its prison system. There are 758 prisoners per 100,000 of population there. This is not the stuff for […]
Your Cheating Heart
Incurring debts, and attempting to recover them, has been a source of tension in civilisations going back to Sumeria.
Foot in Mouth
Much of everyday speech is inaccurate, so inaccuracy is not a big deal in everyday life. However, Government ministers do not inhabit our banal everyday world. In the case of the Minister for Agriculture and Food this means at least two things; he should not say “appraise” when he means “apprise,” and he should not undermine criminal investigations by diminishing the facts being investigated which he does when he says he is investigating “mislabeling”. To say that selling horsemeat as […]
The Food Police?
The finding by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland of horse meat in frozen beef burgers invokes the following legal provisions: A) Articles 14 (1) and 16 of Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 on General Food Law; B) Regulations 5 (1) and 6 of the European Communities (General Food Law) Regulations 2007. Under Article 14 (1) of Regulation No. 178/2002, “Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe”. “Unsafe” includes food unfit for human consumption. The Regulation […]
Sack the Minister
When the Food Safety Authority of Ireland tested a range of Irish frozen beef burgers, purchased from Irish and British supermarkets, it found evidence that they contained horse meat and/or pig meat. It found that the source of the offending meat was the respective manufacturer of the beef burger. In the case of Silvercrest Foods Ltd. almost 30% of one burger constituted horse meat. These facts were sufficient evidence to prosecute the various manufacturers (and the retailers). Prosecutions are necessary […]