 Good evening everybody, and thank you so much for turning out in such great numbers on such a lovely day. It's one of the few days when you should all be home cutting your grass, or doing something like that, because we've had such a bad summer, but we're so honoured indeed to be here this evening in the presence of the Chief Justice to launch this, if I may say so, really excellent publication, European Criminal Justice post Lisbon and Irish perspective. The Chief Justice is going to formally launch the book for us now. Susan Denham is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and precisely one year ago today she was appointed to that position. So today is her birthday, and a very healthy one-year-old you're looking Chief Justice. She was the first woman to ever hold this position. And a quick run through the senior positions in the legal profession in this country shows now I think five positions held by women, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the DPP who's here, the Chief State Solicitor, and the head of the Parliamentary Drafts Office, all women. So it's a very nice tribute to pay to the women of Ireland that they have at last been recognised in their talents. Susan Denham, as you probably all know, was educated here in Dublin and Alexander College, Trinity College, King's Inns and Columbia University, and she was also Pro-Chancellor of Trinity College in Dublin. Now she's a long distinguished career as a practising both junior and senior counsel and did a nice stint in the Midland Circuit, which I'm sure was a very interesting period of her life and because the best stories come from that circuit. And then in 1992 she was again the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. I was very honoured indeed that Susan agreed in 1995 to take the chair of the working group on a court's commission. And I see a few people who were around here at that time when we set up that working group. It was the first real look at our courts since they were founded in 1923. So it was really a kind of a magical time and Susan chaired that and presented several reports outlining significant reform in the organisation of our courts since the foundation of the states. And it led to the establishment of the courts service. Then Susan in turn was on the interim board of the actual court service and served on that board from 2001-2004. Most recently she was chairing the working group on a court of appeal and now the current minister has announced that there's going to be a referendum. Don't please ask me when, but there's going to be a referendum on changing our court structures as well. So Susan Denham has been a really significant person in the life of this country with regard to our courts, the improvements, the modernisation of it. I don't need to tell you that of course this is terrible but her father was the former editor of the Irish time Douglas Gageby and her brother is a practising criminal barrister Patrick Gageby. But I also know that Susan likes to spend a little bit of time down in Connemara walking the roads there where she's probably thinking about the next sentence or the next issue that's going to come. And believe me at the moment there's some very interesting cases just entering into court at the moment. Not let's say anything Alan, entering into court at the moment. I want to just acknowledge if I can the IEA for this work but I want to acknowledge all the contributors. Eugene will talk about them in a few minutes. We particularly are privileged to have the contribution of the United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder who himself kind of was in the eye of a political storm recently where the Republicans were trying to kind of throw him off centre and accuse him of all sorts of things. But he withstood it, he was a really great speaker and a charming man. We particularly want to acknowledge the contribution of Eugene Regan who's here today and thank you Eugene for being here, particularly after your really sad bereavement and your lovely two daughters. We also could not have done any of this without the work of Jill Donohoe. Jill is the director of research here at the Institute and honest to God she is incredible, she just never seems to stop. Joe Brosnan, former Secretary of the Secretary General, that's a really slip up. The General Secretary is trade union but the Secretary General is a department of the Department of Justice and he peer reviewed the chapters and Brian Martin and Mike Mahan known in the IEA's creative team for their exceptional work in bringing the publication to fruition. A very elegant publication it is and I particularly want to pay tribute to somebody who can't be with us here tonight. That's Katrina Heinel, Katrina has been the kind of worker behind this whole group, the Justice and Home Affairs group, the main researcher and she's currently in Singapore so we didn't think the Institute could stretch to return tickets for her to come over and go back again for the launch. So she's here in spirit and she can watch it on whatever clever website or something you set up. But there was a lot of work that went into this book and particularly by the writers. And if I could be forgiven for just mentioning two bits of it that I think came into its own in this publication, I've been very strong on the whole issue of data protection. It raises its ugly head everywhere you go and Billy Hawks whom I know well from a previous life where he nearly saved my life in a small baby plane. Billy is now reminding us all of us no matter what area of work you're working in, data protection now has to be looked at and be mentioned and examined. No point in saying oh nobody will care about that. And of course one of my babies, the criminal assets bureau, it's now like the example that's being used in that right Eugene all over the world. People I don't know how to get any work done because I think every other day there's some visitor from some country coming in to see how we started and established it. And if I could say so, it was probably one of very few instances when Dal Aaron actually worked properly and effectively and got something done in the shortest possible time that is working so well. And I mean if people want an example of how our parliamentary system should work, maybe they should look at that, I know what led to it, it was the tragedies of two heinous murders. But nonetheless it's a very good example of showing if the members of the parliament work together, they can get something out. So I'm going to pass over now to our Chief Justice Susan Denham who's going to say a few words for us and thank you again. Thank you very much indeed for those kind words. I'm delighted to be here this evening. I'm delighted to be here with all of us as we joined for the launch of the European Criminal Justice Post-Lizb and Irish Perspective. This book is a timely publication coming in advance of Ireland assuming the presidency on the 1st of January. And it's an absolutely wonderful collection of opinions of experts who are giving us their expertise. The publication has been produced by this Institute of International and European Affairs, Justice Steering Committee, and there is no doubt that the Institute is a leading policy research institute on European and international affairs in Ireland, and it's an independent not-for-profit organisation with charitable status which gives it a particular and unique status. Its extensive research programme seeks to provide its members with high-level analysis and forecasts of the challenges which we are going to meet in global and European policy agendas. Which will impact on Ireland. It aims to act as a catalyst for new thinking, new solutions and policy options. And this publication is an example of a success in achieving that aim. This is the product of the Justice Steering Committee, a neutral forum bringing together experts to discuss and examine issues of national, European and international importance in law and justice where it monitors the implications of developments in the EU area of freedom, security and justice. The Steering Committee is therefore a reflective group of experts, a very useful institution in our society. With an eye to Ireland's presidency, beginning in January, such a national body of experts engaged in these policy areas enriches our whole national debate. Those who work in the justice sector in Ireland are indebted to the work of the Institute in elucidating complex areas of law which have an ever-increasing European and international element in our society. The committee, of course, is chaired by Nora Ohn, who was the second woman to be appointed Minister for Justice and with whom I worked, as Nora said, with great pleasure during the 1990s and we managed to get a number of very important projects up and running. It was a very important time for me too, Nora, and it's very important that this innovative work that Nora did as a minister is continuing as she brings her expertise now into this institute and shares with it and leads it. I agree with your sentiments expressed at the beginning of the book that the constructive suggestions, support or criticism offered by the contributors are levelled ultimately at improving the livelihoods of our citizens and securing the right of the individual in all jurisdictions throughout the globe, not just in Ireland, to safety and freedom from the ripple effects of crimes which, of course, no boundary or border. When we look at this wonderful publication and we think about the Lisbon Treaty, and of course I can say nothing about the Lisbon Treaty because we are in the middle of all kinds of interesting litigation at the moment, we must remember that the history of the Lisbon Treaty and the European Union is rooted in those ashes of World War II and as time passes it's often easy to forget the essential truth of our union and I'm very fond of looking back at Robert Schumann's declaration where he starts by saying Europe peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportioned to the degree which threatens it. The contribution which an organised in living Europe can bring to civilisation is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. Europe will not be made all at once or according to a single plan it will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity and although we've seen great development in Europe over the last few decades we're 27 nations, 500 million people and it is quite a unique project. The debate that goes on and the steps that go on, there are a few steps forwards maybe one back but they're all small achievements towards ultimately the vision that was elucidated in the 1950s by Robert Schumann and others. Now the project leader of the steering committee is Eugene Regan who has edited this publication and he has developed a wealth of expertise of course going right back to Peter Sutherland's cabinet and his later work and I'd like to congratulate him on bringing to fruition this excellent legal resource which will be much examined by policy makers, legal practitioners, academic lawyers and all interested citizens in our union. In the introduction of the book he notes that the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice within the union is for the first time defined in the Lisbon Treaty as a shared competence between the union and the member states and he points out that this represents an acceptance by the member states that if they are to effectively combat serious crime which invariably has a cross-border element at national level they can do so more effectively by working together at a European level and with the full involvement of the European institutions and that's so much what this book is addressed to individual specific areas of the individual experts. Mr Regan also provides us with the most interesting and informative overview of criminal justice post Lisbon in Chapter 1, charging the beginnings of the treaty to the present day and it's noteworthy that he points to the area of freedom, security and justice as being the signal achievement of the heads of government in the Lisbon Treaty. This excellent publication sheds light on aspects of the treaty and its implications for criminal justice across the European Union with particular references to Ireland and I would like to complement each of the authors for contributing to our shared knowledge of what is often a very challenging area of the law. Brian Purcell, Secretary General of the Department of Justice has written on criminal justice cooperation in Ireland opt-in protocol and this is really a very helpful discussion in a complex area including on the facility for opting into individual measures protocol 21. At the time of writing the Department of Justice and Equality had, when he was writing, had dealt with 22 measures to which protocol 21 applies, all of which are helpfully appended in tabular format at the end of his chapter. Ireland has in fact adopted for 18 of these and this kind of information is so hard to find, it's an absolutely wonderful resource. Commissioner Van Gardia-Shakona has written on police cooperation and security in the EU. Commissioner Kellanon examines the role of our police force in the European Union and security cooperation following Lisbon and as Commissioner points out the EU and international police cooperation is an increasingly essential aspect of national policy and he makes the very interesting and very important point that of course it's an amazingly beneficial factor in Ireland that we have a national police force on Garda-Shakona and that we don't have multiple police forces because it's so complex dealing with other jurisdictions where you have the metropolitan police and you have a variety of other police forces. The commissioner notes that Ireland's forthcoming presidency will include chairmanship of elements of the Europol Management Board in cooperation with Lithuania and Greece. Our former DPP James Hamilton has written a chapter entitled Prosecuting Crime, the European Context and he outlines the role of the EU in assisting the effective prosecution of crime at national level, the role of legal instruments such as the European arrest warrant. Last week we published the report of the court service for 2011 and it shows that there were 414 European arrest warrant applications in the high court in 2011, which was a 9% decrease, but there was 1368 orders made in the European arrest warrant cases in Ireland for going out. So a 21% increase in 2000 is very interesting, very busy. As you know we have to have dedicated judges dealing with it at the moment. There's a very informative account of the development of European criminal law given by Mr Hamilton and he also has an interesting discussion on the civil and common law systems. He points out that really when you think about civil law there's a bit of precedent when you're thinking about criminal, our common law, we have our statutes. So he makes the point really very well that the truth in spite of all our different argyns is that there's no pure civil or common law systems but they're all mixed to a greater or lesser degree, a very informative article and very well worth reading even on the wider context rather than also the specific area he's contacting. Detective Chief Inspector Eugene Corcoran of Keath writes a very informative article on criminal assets bureau, a case study for Europe and as Nora said of course it's one of our great successes and we have and gather up in a variety of conferences. I'm always being told we've got your guard that she called here, they're explained to us all about it, it's a wonderful system. So it's really been a great thing for Ireland that we have led in this way and shown this absolutely excellent multidisciplinary agency model which is now being copied in so many other parts of Europe. Our retired Attorney General and Princess Kiernan wrote on judicial protection in the EU, they outlined the structure of judicial protection in the EU and the differing approaches of the member states to the rights of the individual. They started way back Magna Carter and moved forward. It's a really informative article and I'm sure that all the young barristers and solicitors and academics will hone in on it immediately. And of course they point out that membership of the EU doesn't mean that all countries must have identical values in the fields of criminal law and procedure but that there are certain minimum rights which are the subject of judicial protection in all member states, it's the most informative and useful article. Mr Billy Hawkes has, as Nora said, written on data protection and citizens rights in the fight against serious cross border crime. This is impinging of course on all our lives. Wherever you move now it's a very critical aspect of decisions even when one isn't aware of it and to some extent perhaps it's creeping in and we have to have much more awareness of it and I'm extremely pleased that this article is there. I had brought to my attention a couple of years ago, we were hoping to put online a whole series of sentences that had been made in the court, in open court, after an open hearing and we just wanted to put them up for the judges and practitioners to look at and to be able to see what the circuit court is doing in this area and what the district court is doing in that area. And we immediately ran into the data protection which said now although it was an open court and although it was all in the public domain and although there are public documents I'm afraid you can't put it up on the website in that format so they all had to be anonymised and of course anonymising cases just took time but I mean it really pulled me up to think we must be so aware of how important this change in our society is and how the balance has to be struck between the various interests that have to be considered. Eric Holder, Attorney General of the USA, has written on advancing common priorities combating crime and ensuring global security through international partnership. I was delighted to be here last year when he was here and he spoke and he has pointed out that partnership between the US and the European Union is central to the common goals stating that as transnational organised criminal networks and cybercrime have transcended national boundaries so too must be united in combating these threats. It was the most interesting speech he gave here and it's excellent to have it in this collection. So the contributors are all to be congratulated for the detailed and informative very learned chapters which obviously have involved very careful preparation. There are very synthesised exercise and knowledge and they will be really a great asset to the national conversation. I congratulate all involved in this project about the writers and I compliment the staff of the institute for all their work managing and getting something like this together is very hard work. It can be said with certainty that the institute lives up to its guiding motto sharing ideas shaping policy. This is an important and timely publication and it gives me great pleasure to officially launch European criminal justice post Lisbon and Irish perspective. Thank you Chief Justice for those kind words. I also think it's a good book. I think we got it right. We tried to keep it short but I think it's comprehensive. In fact I think my chapter is the longest. I broke the rules having suggested they be of a certain length. There's a lot of information in the book but I think it's easy to read. I think it's suitable for the expert in the area of criminal law and Europe but I think it's also suitable for and helpful to those who are unfamiliar with the subject matter whether it is data protection or policing or otherwise. I think the book is opportun as the Chief Justice has said. I think that's very important at this particular juncture. Not only because of the major changes that are introduced by the treaty but also the coming Irish presidency when a lot of the issues in this area and legislation which is going through the system will come to for final determination during the Irish presidency. But more particularly this opt out or opt in and the three year review of Ireland's opt out from EU criminal law and policing measures which was introduced at the last moment before the signing off on the Lisbon reform treaty. I think also some recent decisions of the Supreme Court in the area of extradition one in relation to extradition to France and the more recently in relation to Hungary have highlighted first of all the cooperation that's going on in this area between member states. It's also highlighted perhaps some flaws in the formulation of the framework directive under your arrest warrant perhaps some flaws in how we have transposed it in Irish legislation and also the problem and it has been highlighted in the Supreme Court by the Supreme Court some of the justices in relation to not being able to refer a matter of interpretation in relation to that your arrest warrant for interpretation by the European Court. That's all been resolved by enlarge by the Lisbon treaty. This publication has been said is by people who are expert in their areas and responsible for their areas. They're speaking from first hand knowledge and I think that comes through in the chapters. It's both in the formulation of criminal law policy, in the detection investigation and prosecution area and in the area of the protection of fundamental rights whether it is in the courts or in the transposition of the EU directives or otherwise. I think it also gives and I hope it gives a clear picture of the actions which have been undertaken in all of these areas and it gives an insight into just what is happening at a European level and how the actors at national level are interacting with the players and the institutions at a European level. The objective really is to provide that insight and through that insight to serve as a guide to policy makers and legal practitioners. The background to the publication as Susan Denham has just said is that this whole fundamental principles upon which Europe is based originally very much while politically based it was an economic community and more and more that recognition of the importance of the rule of law democracy, fundamental rights then the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice which sums up that objective and I think the Lisbon Treaty provides a much better framework than has ever existed to translate those principles into reality. In particular it's the first time that Europe has been acknowledged as having a shared competence in the area for a long time member states did not want the institutions at all involved in criminal law matters. Now it is a shared competence and that's treaty based. So there is an acceptance by member states that they can work more effectively within that European framework. The Court of Justice has full oversight from 2014. The European Commission will have the normal enforcement powers. We have infringement proceedings against member states in a lot of areas for failing to transpose directives but not in this area because the European Commission doesn't at the present time have that authority with Lisbon it does from 2014. And of course we have the Charter of Fundamental Rights which is part of the Lisbon Treaty which plays very much in this area because if you have European institutions like Europol and you're just playing a greater role in criminal law matters and policing matters, prosecution issues, then it has to be flanked by greater accountability and legitimacy and that can only come with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the recognition of the role of the European Commission and co-decision by the European Parliament. It is interesting to note that our involvement in this whole area it was in the Convention on the Future of Europe which ultimately led with some amendments to the reform treaty. There was a working group 10 on criminal law matters and justice matters chaired by John Bruton and it was that group that decided that there had to be radical changes in this area so that the institutions would play a greater part and that you would have in particular qualified majority voting. You wouldn't have this unanimity requirement and it was from that committee and the report from that committee which laid the basis for this section on criminal law matters and policing. And of course the fundamental change was the qualified majority voting and of course that created a concern in Ireland in relation to and of course in the United Kingdom as to the threat that might pose to our criminal justice system and therefore the up doubt. I don't say that logically follows, I just say that that is what created the concern. A few words about the individual chapters and I think that Chief Justice has highlighted a lot of the important points but I would say that the chapter by Brian Purcell in relation to the up doubt it's clear, factual, non-judgmental and it is the perfect chapter, perfect piece for anyone who's going to examine this area and decide do we really need this up doubt. Would we by not having this up doubt by participating in the formulation of policy from day one have a bigger influence on the procedures and the style of a directive which would be more compatible with our common law system. We faced all of these issues before in other areas and found by operating and working with Europe with the commission in the qualified majority system that we could get the changes we wanted. I think it's a stumbling block myself, I did raise it in the Senate as early as 2008. I never agreed with it but I can see why it was established but I think it is decision time now as to whether we continue with that up doubt. On the Martin Kalanin and the Gareth Commissioner Chapter 3 I think the one thing that comes across is just how embedded we are in the European system how the work of the Gareth Chicona is very much linked with the work of Europol which took quite a while to get established. I think it was that film with Catherine Zeta-Jones as she walked across the podium and Europol in banner headlines. I think that's probably what broke the ice. In reading that chapter you read about European analytical work files and strategic overviews by Europol which is pretty critical I think to the work. I think the other point that comes across is just how complex the structures are and one looks at the table on the Euro policy cycle and those other tables and diagrams in your chapter which highlight just what you're dealing with. I think what's also interesting is you've highlighted specific areas where the interaction and the cooperation with Europe has worked and given rise to results whether it's on drug interceptions, Europe counterfeiting or terrorist issues, human trafficking in particular. Former DPP James Hamilton I think has produced a very nice think piece on this whole area of prosecution and I think the Chief Justice highlighted the point I wish to highlight and that is that point you make about convergence that there is actually a convergence emerging of our civil and common law systems and I suppose it didn't start yesterday. There has been an evolution over a period of time but I think you've highlighted one very crucial point and I think it is in that spirit that we can work with the common civil law systems and ensure that there is no transgression on what the principles of our own system which we value. Eugene Corcoran on the criminal asset bureau and the porffiture. Now there's quite a number, Chief Justice mentioned, history of I don't know which chapter you were speaking about but the chapter on the criminal asset bureau and civil forfeiture I think it's very nice introduction piece, historical piece on how this whole procedure has evolved. It's an excellent chapter. It shows just how successful the criminal asset bureau has been and how Ireland has played a big part in that highlighting the establishment of this Camden Acid Recovery interagency network current and it started here and I think it's a very interesting model which we've established and I think I have no doubt it will feature during the Irish presidency. Paul Gallagher and Francis Kiran on the issue of judicial protection in the European Union highlighting the diversity among member states in the protection of fundamental rights and in the different criminal procedures in member states. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, how that feeds into it and of course Europe's accession to the European Convention of Human Rights. In particular I think it's a very nice thing piece again on that whole issue of mutual recognition, mutual respect of judicial systems between member states which is the basis for cooperation in this area. Again I think that was touched on in a recent Supreme Court case in relation to that extradition to Hungary and that recognition and acceptance of other legal systems and perhaps the questioning of whether one can presume that fundamental rights are protected. Then we come to the Data Protection Commission of Billy Hawkes. If one knew nothing about data protection or how it impacts on our lives or how it affects police enforcement, criminal law enforcement I think read that chapter. It is an excellent piece on the whole issue, the risk of to individual freedom and invasion of privacy without adequate safeguards and it also highlights the legislation which is coming down the line from Brussels and it's particularly in this area it will come to the fore during the Irish presidency so I think that is a very important issue. In relation to the Attorney General of the United States we're very happy to have that, his chapter included Eric Holder and we had a, the Chief Justice said a very interesting presentation by him at the Institute here and one thing he emphasised the partnership with Europe but in combating international terrorism highlighting that the importance of safeguarding the commitment to the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights and I think he laid great stress on that, recognising that perhaps and I think he acknowledged that the United States had perhaps overstepped the mark in quite a number of areas in that regard. I didn't suggest many changes to his chapter and after all he is the Attorney General of the United States. Just from my part I want to thank Nora as Chairperson of the Justice Group she played a critical role in this work as she always does and she has that wonderful facility I've been able to get people to do things. It's no pressure, just force of personality doesn't matter whether it's the Data Protection Commissioner they respond and they did in this case all of the authors in providing comprehensive and succinct chapters. Katrina Heinal played a crucial role. She sweet-talked everybody into getting their chapters done, completed and in on time and I think she really does deserve a lot of credit and Jill Donahoe the key driver in all of these processes and just the Institute itself I think it does, the publication is a reflection of the commitment of the Institute to stick with producing quality publications on European policy matters and follow this justice area for quite some time now we had a publication in 1997 that was the Justice Cooperation of the European Union and then the new third pillar which we did in 2000 so I think the Institute have done well on this one thank you very much