Parliamentary scrutiny of EU criminal law in Ireland

Abstract:

The importance of involving national parliaments in the legislative activities of the European Union is recognised in a protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam and in the text of the European Constitution. This article considers the performance of the Irish Parliament in this role with particular reference to legally binding third pillar measures such as the framework decisions on the European arrent warrant and on combating terrorism. It examines the operation of the parliamentary procedures through which EU criminal law measures are incorporated into Irish law and the extent to which the Irish Parliament can scrutinise such measures before they are agreed at JHA Council level. The article finds that the Irish Parliament is merely going through the motions of democratic scrutiny. The net effect is that, at least in Ireland, EU criminal law is lacking the degree of community assent traditionally associated with the domestic variety.