Justice Committee, 11 Nov 2008
Meeting date: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Official Report
257KB pdf
Justice and Home Affairs in Europe
We turn to item 5. The purpose of the item is to update the committee, following its previous formal consideration of European Union matters in January and the familiarisation visit that it made to Brussels in May. I refer members to paper J/S3/08/27/5, provided by the clerks, especially the section on matters for decision.
As I have said, the fact that European legislation is impinging on Scots law to a greater extent than before requires us to be vigilant that we do not miss anything that might be of particular relevance to Scotland. That said, considerable progress is being made under a number of headings and I do not think that anything that is proposed will cause any great problems. However, at some stage, if the time is available, we may want to explore some of the issues. Does any member have any views on what issues might be worthy of exploration?
Paragraph 6 states:
"The Committee may wish to seek further information from the Scottish Government about Eurojust".
I support that. I also support the suggestion in paragraph 14 that we
"request that Scottish Government officials continue to provide regular updates on the Regulations relating to the applicable law in matrimonial matters."
In addition, the suggestion that we invite the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to give evidence on JHA issues six months hence is a reasonable one.
I concur with those views. Is anyone otherwise minded?
No.
Turning to the question of specific dossiers, are there any issues in which members have a particular interest?
I am interested in the Prüm convention—I have probably not pronounced that correctly—which deals with DNA data and fingerprint exchanges, joint police operations and so on. That would be an interesting area on which to focus some discussion with the cabinet secretary.
Your pronunciation of "Prüm" was perfect, and I think that there is general agreement with what you suggest.
There will be some interest in the green paper on matrimonial property regimes, which is referred to in the paper. I am intrigued to find that the law of Scotland is regarded as a common-law jurisdiction. When I practised law, it was always regarded as a mixed system. I remember having some issues with all of that.
The suggestion is worthy of support. I, too, think that we should look at the green paper.
I suggest—as I have suggested before—that we consider the general area of matrimonial law. The paper mentions other such matters, including the enforcement of maintenance obligations. I would like us to focus on the people bits, and I would like to ensure that we keep a comprehensive eye on anything to do with matrimonial matters.
I think that we all agree with that.
I point out that the European elected members information and liaison exchange—EMILE—will hold a meeting in the Parliament on Thursday 4 December. The topic for discussion is justice and home affairs in Europe, and the event will run from 6.30 to 8.30. I expect to receive an invitation from the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture shortly. It is hoped that those members of the Justice Committee who are available will attend the event. I appreciate the fact that Thursday evening is perhaps not the best evening on which to hold such a function. Nevertheless, I shall probably attend and I encourage anyone else who is available to attend.
That brings us to the end of the public part of the meeting. As no members of the public are present, I do not have to ask them to withdraw. I formally place on record my appreciation of the committee's efforts throughout a pretty lengthy evidence session.
Meeting continued in private until 13:21.