New treaty with US targets global crime
Ireland and the United States today signed an international treaty in a bid to step up the fight against global crime and terror gangs.
The bilateral agreement, signed at the American Embassy in Dublin, will ensure closer ties between the two states in police investigations and update rules on the extradition of suspects.
Michael McDowell, Justice Minister, said the pact would target drug traffickers, international fraud rackets and global terrorism while cementing links between detective teams across the Atlantic.
“Crime is crime no matter whether it takes a terrorist or an ordinary character,” he said.
“These instruments reaffirm the commitment of both Ireland and the United States to the wider international community in the fight against crime.”
Mr McDowell said legal loopholes exploited by criminal gangs would be closed while there would be better cooperation between police forces.
The treaty updates and supplements existing bilateral pacts between the two countries dating back more than 20 years. Extradition agreements from 1983 will be reformed while legal assistance contracts from 2001 will also be modernised.
The pact brings Irish/US treaties into line with deals already signed by leaders of the European Union and America.
