When the UK signed the Lisbon treaty 
it signed up to the juristiction of the European Court of Justice over EU Crime and Policing, subject to a block opt-out. The problem being once activated (as it was) the UK could then either opt back in under the Court or stay outside al together and lose potentialy useful measures.
I have long argued that the UK should have taken the oportunity to negotiate a new deal to stay in the measures without the Court – the terms hat had worked previously. But did the Home Office attempt to do this?
Well my attempts to ask the Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose whether they tried to renegociate or not have been met with an infuriating “we remain unable to confirm or deny at this time whether we hold any information relevant to your request.”
So which one is it? Did the Home Office try a renegotiation and fail or not attempt a renegotiation at all? This is of more than academic interest as, if you believe the Home Secretary, the juristiction of the Court remains a conservative aim in any eventual EU renegotiation. So did they attempt to discuss this with their EU counterparts before opting back in? I suspect I know the answer but will we find out.
