Since the 1990s there has been a noticeable increase in cross-border crime, terrorism and people trafficking, facilitated by the development of new technology which facilitates criminal activity. The European Union has developed increasingly sophisticated policy measures in response to the change in the threat level, very often at the urging of the UK.
While some of this cooperation has been retained in the provisions negotiated as part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK, the UK’s departure from the EU has meant extensive changes in the arrangements for co-operation in the fields of crime, justice and security between the UK and the EU. The implications of these changes for law enforcement in the UK are important, not least because the UK lost direct access to a number of important EU databases as well as the right to extradite through the fast-track European Extradition Warrant. Furthermore, the UK can no longer rely on EU civil law co-operation in areas such as contract and family law.
These major changes and their implications for crime, justice and civil law co-operation on both sides of the Channel will be debated by an expert panel chaired by Lord David Hannay, former UK Permanent Representative to the EU and former Ambassador to the UN and a member of the House of Lords European Affairs Committee:
- Lord Peter Ricketts, former UK National Security Adviser and member of the House of Lords; member of the Senior European Experts Group
- Professor Elspeth Guild, Jean Monnet Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London and legal counsel to the immigration team at Kingsley Napsley
- Sir Julian King, former UK Ambassador to France and to Ireland and EU Commissioner for the Security Union, 2016-19; member of the Senior European Experts Group
The event will be introduced by Professor Panos Koutrakos, Professor of EU Law and Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law at City, University of London.
