The Minister for Justice, Equality, and Defence, Alan Shatter TD, today signed, on behalf of the Irish Government, a Bilateral Agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of Romania on cooperation in combating serious crime.
The Agreement was signed by the Romanian Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr. Radu Stroe, on behalf of the Government of Romania.
The purpose of the Agreement is to further facilitate the exchange of information on serious crimes such as drug trafficking, organised crime, money laundering, and terrorism among others. The Agreement also provides for cooperation by both parties in training initiatives to share expertise in the areas of prevention, detection and investigation of criminal activities, and provides for the possible secondment or exchange of law enforcement personnel.
Minister Shatter said “ Experience has shown that there are growing links between criminal groups operating across the European Union and beyond. Those intent on committing serious organised crime of a cross border nature are ready to exploit any available opportunity to line their own pockets at the expense of the law abiding citizen. I believe that bilateral agreements of this nature, building on the existing cooperation measures at European level, further enhance our capacity to respond to the threat posed by organised crime”.
Highlighting the importance of building closer relationships between law enforcement agencies across Europe, the Minister said ‘There is much to be gained in providing for the appropriate exchange of information, expertise and knowledge between the respective agencies of Ireland and Romania. Under this Agreement appropriate channels of direct communication will be established between An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners in this jurisdiction and the Romanian authorities so as to facilitate implementation of the Agreement.’.
17 January 2013
ENDS
Note to Editors:
The Agreement was signed today on the margins of the Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council held today in Dublin under the auspices of the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
The main provision of the Agreement is information exchange and co-operation between Ireland and Romania in relation to persons and organisations suspected of being involved in serious crime including illicit drug trafficking, money laundering, organised crime, trafficking in persons, terrorism, terrorism financing and other serious crime as well as economic and financial crimes.
Further provision is made in the Agreement for the exchange of information on measures to control the legal trade in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
The Agreement also provides for co-operation by both parties in training initiatives to share expertise in the areas of prevention, detection and investigation of criminal activities. This also extends to the possible secondment or exchange of law enforcement personnel.
The Agreement also covers procedural matters such as the use and confidentiality of information; protection of personal data; refusal of assistance and the bearing of costs.
The competent Irish authorities for the purpose of implementing the Agreement are the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Commissioner An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners.
Implementation of the Agreement will be in accordance with the national law of the respective states and the provisions of the Agreement.
The Agreement will enter into force, thirty days after notification has been received by both parties that the constitutional formalities required by their national laws have been completed.
Photographs are available upon request from the Department of Justice and Equality by contacting pressoffice@justice.ie