Euro Police Can Chase British Suspects

Telegraph UK ^ | 11/21/'02 | Phillip Johnston

[joesnuffy]

Euro-police 'can chase British suspects' By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor (Filed: 21/11/2002)

Foreign police will be allowed to operate on British soil for the first time under legislation published yesterday.

French or German police and customs teams in "hot pursuit" of a criminal will be allowed to continue their surveillance operations before seeking support from local officers.

The arrangements, brought in under the Crime (International Co-operation) Bill, published yesterday, will allow British police the same rights in other European Union countries. The one exception will be Britain's only common border with another EU member: that between Britain and Ireland.

Ireland - which, like Britain, is not a full member of the Schengen open-borders agreement in Europe - has not opted into the new provision.

Although Britain had pressed Ireland to follow suit, the Government said it was happy with the existing arrangements operating along the border between Britain and Ireland. Hot pursuit across the Spanish border into Gibraltar will also not be allowed since the Rock is excluded from Schengen.

Lord Filkin, Home Office minister, said the foreign police officers entering the UK would not be allowed to carry weapons, though no specific provision is made in the Bill to prevent this.

The move surprised many observers because ministers had indicated that foreign police officers would not be allowed to operate in Britain.

Oliver Letwin, shadow home secretary, said: "This is very worrying. It is exactly what the Government said it would not do."

He said the move went "hand in hand" with last week's Bill to introduce the European Arrest Warrant.

"This makes it possible for people to be arrested in Britain for actions which are not crimes here, and to be faced with the need to prove their innocence in a foreign land," he said. "We will fight these threats to our basic liberties all the way."

However, ministers denied that police will have arrest powers and under the Bill they will be allowed to carry out surveillance only for a maximum of five hours. After that time they should either be joined by local police or should stop the operation.

Lord Filkin, however, conceded that there would be no way of knowing how long the police had been in the country and it would be necessary to rely on other forces observing the rules. He said in the vast majority of cases where a foreign police force wanted to follow a criminal to Britain they would have time to contact police in Britain to set up a joint operation.

But in urgent circumstances where this is not possible - perhaps when the pursuit is through the Channel Tunnel by Eurostar - the foreign officers will be able to operate alone.

During their time in Britain they will not have to obtain judicial permission to carry out surveillance, something their British counterparts would need to get.

The Bill says a foreign officer should be "treated as if he were acting as a constable in the execution of his duty" during the five-hour period, granting him the same protections against assault and other offences as police in the UK.

Lord Filkin said the arrangement worked both ways. British police tracking a suspect to Dover would be able to follow them to Calais and continue the surveillance operation.

"We don't expect this to happen very often in Britain," he said. "Our geography will usually mean that a foreign police force that is tracking someone coming to Britain would have plenty of time to ring through and alert the British police and so have in place a joint intelligence team led by a British police force."

The Bill will also allow for British citizens who commit terrorist attacks anywhere in the world to face prosecution in British courts, rather than in the country where the incident took place. Acts of terrorism committed abroad against British residents will also be triable in a British court.

Under these provisions, anyone who committed an act of terrorism anywhere in the world against British diplomatic premises, including attacks on staff in their cars, will be triable in British courts.

4 November 2002: Extradition law may give EU police power of arrest in Britain

24 June 2002: Parliament given no say as Blunkett adopts arrest warrant

20 November 2001: Concern over catch-all EU arrest warrant

12 November 2001: Ministers rush to meet EU target over extradition