Foro Ermua awards the Prize for Civic Coexistence to France´s Minister of Justice, the Honourable Dominique Perben

Bilbao,  31 July 2003.  Gathered in Bilbao, the jury of the Prize for Civic Coexistence, organised by the FORO ERMUA, hereby agrees to award this third prize to French Justice, represented by France’s Minister of Justice, the Honourable Dominique Perben.

 Through this public figure, the Jury  wishes to extend its tribute not only to the executive authority but also to French justice as a whole for its inestimable assistance in combating terrorism and consolidating the rule of law in Spain. The Jury would particularly like to thank the judges and anti-terrorist prosecutors of Paris, for whom Basque citizens feel great admiration and gratitude, for their work and dedication -which often puts them at risk.

This judicial cooperation between France and Spain was in place long before the international community’s sudden awareness of the serious threat terrorism poses today to free societies following the appalling terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.

Since that tragic date, cooperation between states in the international fight against terrorism has been recognised as an essential requisite for defeating those who use it to impose their totalitarian objectives. France and Spain may take pride in being pioneer nations who took the first steps in this direction, which the international community is now following. We could cite, among many others, the following forms of bilateral cooperation: the temporary turning over of detainees to Spain shortly after being arrested in the neighbouring country; the setting up of joint investigative teams; and the immediate handover of documentation seized from terrorists.

This Franco-Spanish judicial cooperation has furthermore been carried out with the utmost respect for the rights of the people arrested for alleged involvement in terrorist activities.

Within the European Community, cooperation between French and Spanish justice is one of the main sources of inspiration for the fast and ambitious development of justice and home-affairs policies over the past 22 months with a view to creating a single european judicial area.

Special mention should be made of the European arrest warrant (commonly known as the “Euro warrant”), which will take the place of the slow extradition process and is due to enter fully into force in the 15 European Union member states in January 2004. Such great progress could not have been achieved so quickly without the cooperation between the French and Spanish Ministers of Justice.

The Prize will he handed out at the end of November in the Basque Country.

The Jury consists of the following people:

* Mr. Vidal de Nicolás. President of the Foro Ermua (President of the Jury)

* Mr. Gustavo Jaso.  Economist  (Secretary of the Jury)

* Mr. Nicolás Redondo. Former Secretary-General of the Partido Socialista Euskadi (PSE)  (Member)

*Ms. Gotzone Mora. University professor.  PSE  (Member)

* Mr. Germán Yanke. Journalist (Member)

* Mr. Mikel Buesa.  University professor  (Member)

* Mr. Antonio García-Chazarra. President of the Asociación de Criminólogos (Member)

* Mr. Rubén Múgica. Spokesman for the Foro Ermua (Member)