The Irish driver who was sentenced in Hungary for killing two children in a crash could serve his prison term in Ireland under a European Union decree, Hungarian Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Tuesday.

At a press conference, he referred to the 2008 decree stipulating that EU members must recognise and enforce sentences passed by courts of other member states. Although EU members had the chance to obtain a temporary waiver, Ireland had only requested this three years after the sentence was passed.

Hungary has repeatedly asked the Irish authorities to extradite Ciaran Tobin, who was sentenced in absentia after the fatal accident in 2000, so that he may serve part of his sentence in Hungary. Minister Navracsics added that this solution would coincide with the wishes of the parents of the deceased, since, as far as they were concerned, it was of secondary importance in which country Tobin served his sentence.

The Hungarian position is that starting in December 2014, the European Commission could launch infringement procedures against Ireland should that country fail to integrate the EU decree into its legislation, and Hungary could also file a suit with the European Court of Justice, he stated.

The minister added that he had approached European Commissioner Viviane Reding in a letter for an opinion on whether the Hungarian interpretation of the decree is correct. Minister Navracsics said he trusted that Ms Reding would share Hungary’s position so that the case should be resolved in the way he suggested.

He added that once Ireland adopts the decree, it would have to enforce Tobin’s sentence. He added that Tobin’s sentence would not expire before 2017.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)