There is no doubt that the decision could have a number of serious and significant effects on not just our criminal justice system but our civil justice system. I hosted a justice summit that brought together a range of stakeholders, and the Crown Agent attended that on the Crown Office’s behalf.
In the past couple of months, the Lord Advocate has given a speech in Brussels that set out his concerns about potential risks if we are not part of the European Union. One of the most obvious risks concerns the use of European arrest warrants, which are based on an extradition arrangement. The average timescale from the issue of a European arrest warrant to the person being apprehended is around 40 to 42 days, whereas an extradition can take nine months plus. The European arrest warrant therefore provides a much more efficient and effective system for repatriating individuals. There was a case in Scotland where a European arrest warrant was issued and the person was apprehended within hours in another jurisdiction.
Such warrants are much more efficient. If we end up having to go down the route of requiring extradition treaties instead, the timeframe that is involved and the court time that they take up will create inefficiency in the system. The process will be slowed down and more court time will be taken up in dealing with extradition proceedings in a way that we do not have to do at the moment.
I welcome the fact that we have opted into Europol, but we will not be able to be a full member of Europol once we come out of the European Union. That means that, when it comes to joint investigation teams, we will no longer be privy to the same information and shared resources, which are extremely important for dealing with human trafficking, for example, given the international nature of that criminal activity. Europol plays an important part in supporting efforts to deal with serious and organised crime groups on a pan-European basis.
Police Scotland is one of the police services in the United Kingdom that make the greatest use of the Europol organisation—for example, we have police officers embedded in the United Kingdom team. Unlike in England and Wales, where police services have to go through the Home Office to access Europol, Police Scotland is connected directly to Europol and has direct access to its database systems. We make good use of Europol, but we will not have the opportunities that we have at the moment once we have left the EU. We can be a tier 2 member of Europol, but we will not have access to the same information and support.
Leaving the European Union could also have a significant impact on the civil side—for example, in commercial and contract law. Contracts that are agreed between a company here—