Home Affairs. The Mastricht Treaty omitted 'home affairs' from its main areas of jurisdiction. The Amsterdam Treaty amended this situation and now the EU is pressing ahead with yet more 'harmonisation'.

A Common EU Legal system. The European Union has issued proposals for a common European Union legal system with the working title "Corpus Juris". It states that "For the purposes of investigation, prosecution, trial and execution of sentences concerning the offences set out above" (currently only fraud against the EU - but additions to the list have already been proposed and it is bound to increase once the precedent has been set, the usual EU 'thin end of the wedge') "the territory of the Member States of the Union constitutes a single legal area". This proposed system first saw the light of day in April 1997 and was handed out to the participants of a meeting at San Sebastian, Spain. The European Parliament has passed a resolution supporting a common legal system and the parliament's president, Jose-Maria Gil-Robles called Corpus Juris "an important model for the realisation of a common European juridical and judicial space … based on the protection not just only of the European tax-payer but the European citizen against all and any criminal activity". The Foreign Office, have stated that it does not believe that the rules set out in this publication can ever be implemented in this country, but the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty specifically allow for this to happen. In effect it will impose the "Code Napoleon" upon us and anyone under arrest will be deemed to be guilty until proven innocent which goes against all the established principles of British Law. The police will be empowered to make arrests without evidence and then hold their suspects in an E.U. prison for 9 months without charge. The prisoner will not be allowed any assistance from anyone apart from a visit from his solicitor. This plan envisages a European Public Prosecutor (EPP), independent of national authorities, who would have a delegate in each capital city. The EPP would have the power to instruct a national judge to issue a "European Arrest Warrant" valid across the whole EU.

Laying the Foundations of a Police State. Combine this with the recent legal opinion of the advocate-general of the European Court of Justice, in case C-274/99, that criticism of the EU, its institutions or its leading figures was akin to blasphemy and could therefore be legally punished and we have nothing less than the foundations for a police state. These are facts not deceptions or sound bites which are much beloved by the enthusiasts of the European Union. Age old principles which have been enshrined in the Magna Carta since 1215 will be swept away. There will be no more lawful judgement by the accused's equals (i.e. no trial by jury); no more right to silence; no more Habeas Corpus; and no more will the prisoner's ordeal be limited to the one trial. The Public Prosecutor will be empowered to retry the accused again and again for the same offence.

'Harmonisation' by stealth - again! Both the Commission and the Government have kept this attack on our rights and freedoms quiet because it could cause immense public irritation. A fait accompli is much more of an acceptable option because it will give the powers that be an easier time. Remember the way in which successive governments have been working the system - "It doesn't exist . . . It does exist but it won't effect us . . . It is now happening but we can do nothing about it."

Details of 'Corpus Juris' can be found in the book of that name, reference: ISBN 27178-33447.