Sarah questions the Commission on the Christopher Ridd case, the European Arrest Warrant and the Schengen Information System

11.29.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 4th Jun 2010

Question from Sarah Ludford to the European Commission:

What action is the Commission taking to ensure that Member States not only correctly use the Schengen Information System (SIS) database and the EAW mechanism but also ensure the factual accuracy of data relied on and inserted into SIS, in order to avoid ordeals such as one recently suffered by my constituent Christopher Ridd?

On Friday 15 May Mr Ridd was detained on arrival at Lisbon airport by the Portuguese Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), later arrested and held until late on 17 May. Mr Ridd had in 2000 reported his passport as stolen to both the Dutch and British authorities. The stolen passport was allegedly then used to fraudulently establish residency in Germany and to commit a major fraud.

Germany issued an EAW in the name of Mr Ridd but apparently did not send it to the UK, despite it being for a British national, or verify the facts with UK passport service. The EAW seems to have been carelessly issued and entered into the SIS in a speculative 'fishing expedition' and not targeted at any Member State. The SIS alert was also badly logged in that it did not utilise the available photograph of the suspect. The Portuguese authorities then failed to dismiss the case although the SIS alert described the suspect as "negroid, black hair, brown eyes" whereas Mr Ridd is Caucasian. There was total failure to ensure accurate data and careful processing & sharing of data, and arguably there was a misuse of the EAW.

Does the Commission agree that the accumulation of negligently managed information in the SIS, as well as unnecessary and badly justified EAWs have the potential to be very harmful to EU citizens' fundamental rights? How does the Commission propose to implement strong mechanisms for redress and reimbursement via EU legislation in order to mitigate the harm caused by such negligence? What specific redress is available to Mr Ridd?

(Awaiting response from Commission.)

Related Link:

See Daily Telegraph story mentioning Sarah about Christopher Ridd case.