From:Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

Minister of State, Catherine Ardagh, with responsibility for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice, represented Ireland at an Informal Conference of Ministers of Justice at the Council of Europe today in Strasbourg.

The focus of the conference was on the fight against financial crime, money laundering and terrorist financing. This form of criminality increasingly impacts people across society and Ministers discussed challenges and possible solutions using legal, organisational and technological tools.

Speaking about the discussions, Minister Ardagh said:

In the first plenary session Ministers exchanged views on the fundamental role of prevention, detection and intelligence gathering in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, including looking at new EU and Council of Europe structures that will help national authorities enhance their analysis capabilities through specialist training, tools and services.

While these new structures will play a key role in coordinating efforts amongst national authorities, the new package of EU anti-money laundering legislation allows for the establishment of partnerships for information sharing purposes.

Speaking about public-private cooperation in this area, Minister Ardagh said:

There were also a number of round table discussions focusing on the “follow the money” approach to targeting the proceeds of crime as well as the recovery of criminal assets across borders.

Speaking about this from an Irish perspective, the Minister said:

Ireland at the Council of Europe

Ireland is a founding member of the Council of Europe (CoE), being one of the ten original signatories of the Treaty of London in May 1949 which established the CoE as the first pan-European intergovernmental organisation.

The current Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Council of Europe is Ambassador Caitríona Doyle who took up her position in August 2023. Ambassador Doyle is supported by a Deputy Head of Mission and a Justice Attaché.

Ireland last held the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers between May and November 2022.

Link to the Council of Europe website is available here -https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal