Archive
R.I.P. Bill to introduce far-reaching surveillance
The Bill will legitimise existing clandestine practices and introduce controls over encryption - all on the authority of politicians and officials The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill has 73 clauses and 4 lengthy Schedules plus Read More
Patten’s radical model of policing is emasculated in Police (Northern Ireland) Bill
The Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland ( Patten Report) was published in September 1999 (see Statewatch, vol 9 no 6). In brief, it recommended a radical new model of policing Read More
Lomé Convention used to impose repatriation on the world’s poorest countries
The negotiations between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) on a new Lomé Convention, begun in 1998, were completed in February. The agreement contained, for the first time, draconian rules on the Read More
Europol adopts the Council’s code of access to documents after inquiry by European Ombudsman
After an own initiative inquiry by the European Ombudsman begun in April 1999 Europol has agreed to adopt the code of access to documents used by the Council of the European Union - the institution Read More
Statewatch takes two new complaints against the Council over access to documents to the European Ombudsman
At a press conference held in the European Parliament in Brussels 11 July 2000 Statewatch editor Tony Bunyan launched two new complaints with the European Ombudsman concerning the Council of the European Union's (the 15 Read More
Marchioness Public Inquiry
Bereaved and survivors of the Marchioness disaster have finally been granted a public inquiry, over a decade after the small pleasure launch was hit and sunk by the much larger dredger Bowbelle in August 1989. Read More
The mutual recognition of criminal judgments in the EU: will the free movement of prosecutions create barriers to genuine criminal justice?
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) officials are currently considering how to implement the principle of EU-wide "mutual recognition" of criminal court orders and rulings. This will ultimately oblige member states to act on each other's Read More
Ireland: Liaison officers and readmission agreements to prepare for deportations
In mid-May Ireland signed its first readmission agreement with Romania, while readmission procedures have been initiated with Poland while negotiations for a 'repatriation' agreement with Nigeria are under way. Civil rights groups have expressed concern Read More
Crisis in Italian prisons
On 3 May the Italian press agency ANSA reported that a magistrate in Sassari, Sardinia, had issued 82 preventive custody orders, involving 79 prison guards and 3 prison service (polizia penitenziaria) officials. Twenty-one officers were Read More