Justice
In relation to justice the Justice and Home Affairs team is responsible for delivering close UK-French co-operation, political and practical, on justice and crime matters. This work is done in close contact with relevant colleagues working in the area of law enforcement.
The team is also responsible for judicial co-operation policy and provides a point of contact for the system of liaison magistrates, in turn responsible for facilitating the smooth handling of legal cases, including extraditions, relating to France and the UK.
Some examples of the team’s work in these areas include:
- Ensuring mutual recognition of French and British civil partnerships
- Facilitating UK-French contacts on drugs and serious organised crime
- Enabling exchange of experience and expertise in the field of child protection.
The Justice and Home Affairs Team’s responsibilities also include pursuing a dialogue with our French hosts on the European dimension of justice and home affairs, given that much of the practical co-operation between the UK and France in these areas results from agreements at the European level.
The EU-level co-operation in the area of Justice and Home affairs is encapsulated in a five-year work programme, which for the 2009-2014 period is called the Stockholm Programme. Once a final version is agreed and adopted by EU Heads of State and Government in December 2009, the Stockholm Programme will define the framework for EU police and customs co-operation, rescue services, criminal and civil law co-operation, asylum, migration and visa policy for the period 2010–2014.
Latest news: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw in Paris
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, visited Paris last October. He had a working lunch with his counterpart, the French Minister for Justice, Michèle Alliot-Marie, at the Ministry for Justice, Place Vendôme. Mr Straw also visited the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, where he was received by its head, Vice-President Jean-Marc Sauvé. He later met the head of France's highest court of the civil and criminal system, the Cour de Cassation, Premier President Vincent Lamanda, for a substantive discussion on Britain's new Supreme Court.
Justice