Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-01-Speech-1-098"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2003-09-01"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Legal bases and compliance with Community law2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20030901.7.1-098"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2003-09-01-Speech-1-0992
lpv:speaker	lp:Professor Sir Neil MacCORMICK2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, at this late stage of the evening there is not much to be said, especially since we all agree on the virtues of the report and its underlying point. I just want to quickly address three principles. First of all, it is obvious that criminal law and criminal sanctions touch the liberty of citizens more closely than any other branch of the law and therefore, being absolutely certain that there is a valid constitutional basis for the use of criminal law is vital to liberty as a fundamental matter of the rule of law. One of the things that the report and its explanatory statement do is to show exactly to what extent there is a basis. Secondly, in a democratic Community, it is essential that the citizens' representatives get to vote on the question of whether the criminal law should be extended. That alone would cause us to regard Pillar III as a very suspect basis for any kind of intervention in the criminal law. It effectively excludes the democratic representatives of the citizens in this Parliament beforehand and in the national parliaments afterwards. Therefore it is excellent to discover, as Mr Koukiadis shows, that it is a matter for the Community Pillar. I should to like to underline the point in paragraph 7 about subsidiarity and proportionality. Again, it sends a message to the Member States to improve their criminal law in an appropriate way and to allow sensitivity to local traditions in law. That is absolutely vital. Those are three important principles in an excellent report. I welcome Mr Bolkestein back from his brief sojourn in Scotland, where he was very welcome."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	unknown; Scottish National Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; AFCO (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 member; G/EFA (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; Delegation to the EU-Romania Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 member; Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"MacCormick (Verts/ALE )."1

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