Ensuring that cross-border mechanisms are in place to safeguard children

A joint briefing led by The Children's Society

A record of the debate in the House of Lords on 30th April 2018 is in Hansard

Following our withdrawal from the European Union (EU), European legislation for the purposes of safeguarding children will be transferred into UK law, continuing to provide a vital legislative framework through which the UK can effectively tackle crimes such as child trafficking and child exploitation that take place both on and
offline across borders.

The ability of law enforcement agencies and the courts to effectively prevent and detect such crimes and bring perpetrators to justice requires more than a strong legislative framework; it requires cooperation. The UK has played a leading role in the development of cross-border measures to tackle crime and has both contributed to and benefited from this greatly. Indeed, the Prime Minister has stated that the ability to keep people safe depends on us being able to work together and the EU criminal justice cooperation measures have been key to that.

The Government’s commitment to ‘sustain cooperation’ across EU structures that exist to keep citizens safe is welcome. Yet, there is limited detail relating to what this future relationship will look like, and how it will be ensured that cooperation continues to ensure that children and young people are protected. The first duty of any Government is to keep its citizens safe. Parliament must be empowered to hold the Government to account on this. Amendment 66 provides Peers with the opportunity to ensure that continued membership of Europol, Eurojust and participation in the European Arrest Warrant is a key objective of the government in negotiating the withdrawal agreement.

- Download the full briefing

Supported by:

University of Liverpool

NSPCC

National Children's Bureau

Children England

Together 

Barnardo's

Coram

Children's Rights Alliance for England

ECPAT

Children in Wales