Hypothetical question

NoOneImportant

if you knew you were going to be questioned by the gardai and charged with an offence, but nothing had happened yet. could you move to Europe and avoid the court case?

chops018

No, there is such thing as a European Arrest Warrant.

Gotham

You wouldnt get out of the country going through any passport checks.
You'd have to leave on a private boat or something, which can be risky.

Depending on the seriousness of the crime, they may alert the countries police and have you extradited, or even get interpol involved.

The McArdle case is an example of how it happened the other way around.
http://www.emigrant.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9494&Itemid=18

brian_t

chops018 wrote: »

No, there is such thing as a European Arrest Warrant.

If he went to Norway or Switzerland which are not yet in the EU would he avoid the European Arrest Warrant.

NoOneImportant

chops018 wrote: »

No, there is such thing as a European Arrest Warrant.

thanks for the quick reply. Would it be an automatic thing or would it depend on the seriousness of the crime?

chops018

brian_t wrote: »

If he went to Norway or Switzerland which are not yet in the EU would he avoid the European Arrest Warrant.

True.

NoOneImportant wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply. Would it be an automatic thing or would it depend on the seriousness of the crime?

I'm not sure, I studied it before but that was 2 years ago so I'm not too familiar with the intricacies of it off hand.

brian_t

NoOneImportant wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply. Would it be an automatic thing or would it depend on the seriousness of the crime?

An EAW may be issued by a national judicial authority if:

• the person whose return is sought is accused of an offence for which the maximum period of the penalty is at least one year in prison;
• he or she has been sentenced to a prison term of at least four months.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/recognition-decision/european-arrest-warrant/index_en.htm

brian_t

NoOneImportant wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply. Would it be an automatic thing or would it depend on the seriousness of the crime?

What is the Hypothetical offence ?

seamus

Gotham wrote: »

You wouldnt get out of the country going through any passport checks.
You'd have to leave on a private boat or something, which can be risky.

Pretty sure he'd have no difficulty getting a plane out, exit checks are minimal. The only exception would be if he was known to be evading arrest, the Gardai would alert airports and ports.
Even then there's little stopping you from crossing into NI, look at Peter Darragh Quinn. From there you can board a plane from Belfast to anywhere.

brian_t wrote: »

If he went to Norway or Switzerland which are not yet in the EU would he avoid the European Arrest Warrant.

The EAW is effectively a simplified more powerful version of an extradition order. He could still be extradited from either of those countries.

Ultimately it depends on the seriousness of the crime. If you've just butchered someone, then the countries where you'd be safe from extradition are the ones which would be worse than prison.
If you're running away from an unpaid LPT bill, then the EAW won't even be issued.

geordiejon9

Hey, my question is similar, I left Ireland 3 years ago, I had been caught with a small amount of drugs, however they were gunna call it drug dealing. Anyway i left to North America, but want to come back, just wondering, is there a statute saying i canjt be charged anymore?

Pro Hoc Vice

brian_t wrote: »

An EAW may be issued by a national judicial authority if:

• the person whose return is sought is accused of an offence for which the maximum period of the penalty is at least one year in prison;
• he or she has been sentenced to a prison term of at least four months.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/recognition-decision/european-arrest-warrant/index_en.htm

While the above is correct, Ireland to the best of my knowledge only requests EAW for serious crimes, many minor crimes in Ireland carry a possible year in custody, and a fair few have got minimum 4 months in jail.

On the other hand many of our friends in EAW land request warrants for the most minor of crimes, including the stealing of a chicken, the attempted stealing of a push bike and possession of a tiny and I mean tiny amount of hash.

Pro Hoc Vice

geordiejon9 wrote: »

Hey, my question is similar, I left Ireland 3 years ago, I had been caught with a small amount of drugs, however they were gunna call it drug dealing. Anyway i left to North America, but want to come back, just wondering, is there a statute saying i canjt be charged anymore?

Yes and no, if the matter is summary only then in the majority of cases the summons must be requested within 6 months. But if the person is not served or avoids service the summons can be reissued and there is no statutory time to stop prosecution.

If the matter is a serious matter then there is no statute of limitations, and it can be prosecuted, of course delay can be brought up as a issue, but it would have to be north of 10 years in my opinion.

Carawaystick

You can leave the country no bother, walk across the bridge from Lifford to Strabane, or take the n1 to Jonesboro

Pat Mustard

NoOneImportant wrote: »

if you knew you were going to be questioned by the gardai and charged with an offence, but nothing had happened yet. could you move to Europe and avoid the court case?

The degree to which the State wants to get you back will be a factor.

If you stole a Mars Bar, the guards might forget about you. If you killed somebody, it's likely that somebody will remember you.

See the example of Michael Lynn. He left Ireland before any charges were brought against him. He spent some time in Portugal before going to Brazil, where his son was born. He was granted permanent residency. Although there had not been an extradition agreement between Ireland and Brazil previously, an agreement is now in place.

The State is now attempting to extradite Lynn from Brazil.

Fred Swanson

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Carawaystick

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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google Viktor Kozeny (sp?)

Fred Swanson

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