Lords question UK and EU Legal Experts on Opt-Out

• Parliament TV: UK’s 2014 Opt-out Decision (Protocol 36)
• Inquiry: UK’s 2014 Opt-out Decision (Protocol 36)
• EU Sub-Committee E - Justice, Institutions and Consumer Protection
• EU Sub-Committee F - Home Affairs, Health and Education

Witnesses

Wednesday 16 January, Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.

In the first session, at 11am, the Committees will hear from the following representatives from the Centre for European Legal Studies:

• Professor John Spencer and Dr Alicia Hinarejos, both from the University of Cambridge
• Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex.

Professor Spencer is also President of the European Criminal Law Association – UK.

Following on, at 12pm, the Committee will question:

• Richard Atkinson, Chair of the Criminal Law Committee, Law Society of England and Wales
• Professor James Chalmers, member of the Criminal Law Committee, Law Society of Scotland
• Helen Malcolm QC, Vice-Chair of the EU Law Committee and Chair of the EU Criminal Law Sub-Committee, Bar Council
• James Wolffe QC, from the Faculty of Advocates.

The Committee will use both sessions to explore with the witnesses issues around whether or not the Government should exercise the opt-out and, if so, which measures it should opt back in to, the legal process for doing so and any uncertainty that may arise as a result. The witnesses will also be asked if they have any concerns about the extension of the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction, the desirability of reforming the European Arrest Warrant and the feasibility of the UK relying upon alternative international legal instruments to cooperate with other European countries on cross-border crime.