GOVERNMENT EXTRADITION REVIEW MUST TACKLE FLAWS IN EUROPE’S FAST-TRACK SYSTEM

for immediate release

The Home Secretary has today announced a review the UK’s extradition arrangements. Although the details of the review and those to undertake it are still to be published, it looks likely to focus primarily on the UK/US extradition treaty with only limited focus on Europe’s extradition arrangements. The review is not expected to report until the summer of 2011.

Jago Russell, Fair Trials International’s Chief Executive, said:
“Every day, three people are extradited under Europe’s no-questions-asked extradition system and the cases of injustice are mounting. This review, though welcome, will only produce a fairer system of extradition if it gets to grips with the problems caused by the European Arrest Warrant and if vital new safeguards are put in place.”

Fair Trials International welcomes the review of the UK’s extradition arrangements but is concerned that it might not get to the heart of the problem: Europe’s no-questions-asked extradition system. This system has removed all political discretion in extradition decisions and done away with traditional legal barriers to extradition within the EU. It has resulted in a massive increase in the number of European extraditions. In the last year alone over one thousand people – almost three a day – were detained and extradited by the UK to other European countries. Among these are some shocking cases of injustice (see case summaries attached). In order to address the problems with this system, the UK must go much further than just looking at how it has implemented “optional safeguards” contained in the European legislation. These safeguards are not sufficient to prevent the injustice and waste of resources that have characterised the system so far.

For more information please contact Fair Trials International on +44 (0)20 7822 2370 or +44 (0)7950 849 851

Notes to Editors

1. The announcement
   The Home Office announcement says the review will focus on five issues:
   
   - Breadth of Secretary of State discretion in an extradition case;
   - The operation of the European Arrest Warrant, including the way in which those of its safeguards which are optional have been transposed into UK law;
   - Whether the forum bar to extradition should be commenced;
   - Whether the US-UK Extradition Treaty is unbalanced;
   - Whether requesting states should be required to provide prima facie evidence.
   
   In reality, all but the second of these issues can actually address Europe’s extradition system: the rest could only apply to extradition arrangements with the United States and other non-European Union countries, which are dealt with under a different part of the Extradition Act to which different tests apply.
   
   In order to address all the defects in the European extradition system, the UK must go much further than just addressing how it has implemented “optional safeguards” contained in the European framework legislation. These safeguards are not sufficient to prevent the injustice and waste of resources that have characterized the system. To do this, the UK must also use its influence in Europe, working with the European Commission and in the European Parliament to find solutions quickly.
   
   The review announcement contains no detail on how the panel of experts will be selected or on the panel’s terms of reference. We hope the Government will announce more details soon.
    
2. The European Arrest Warrant
   
   For nearly 20 years, Fair Trials International has supported people facing criminal charges across the globe. These cases leave us in no doubt about the grave human costs of extradition and the challenges to obtaining a fair trial hundreds of miles from home. In particular, we have serious concerns about the operation of Europe’s fast-track extradition system which, although designed to deliver justice, is causing serious cases of injustice. The new system has made it far easier transfer people at the request of another EU country – and correspondingly harder for courts in the country receiving the request to say no. Please see below a document outlining further examples of the injustice that this has led to.
   
   The Extradition Act came into force in January 2004 and introduced radical changes to the UK’s extradition system. Enacted in the wake of the 9/11 atrocities, the legislation aimed to fast-track the system for sending people from one country to another for trial or serve a prison sentence. For extraditions within the European Union, a new “European Arrest Warrant” was introduced, which removed all political discretion in extradition decisions and did away with traditional legal barriers to extradition.
   
   These Warrants have resulted in a steady increase in the number of people the UK has sent to other EU countries since the system came in. Shocking figures recently published by the Serious Organised Crime Agency reveal that the number of people surrendered from Britain to other European countries rose by more than 50% last year. Over one thousand people – almost three a day – were detained and extradited by the UK in the year 2009-2010.
   
   David Blunkett, Home Secretary when the European Arrest Warrant system was introduced, said that although he believed he was right to support the system, he was “insufficiently sensitive to how it might be used”. Senior judges have also expressed serious concerns over their inability to prevent cases of injustice under the Extradition Act. The case of Garry Mann (extradited to Portugal in May – a link is below to his case summary) has been described by Lord Justice Moses as “an embarrassment”.
    
3. Fair Trials International’s Justice in Europe campaign
   
   We have long campaigned for a fairer system of extradition within Europe. Our demands are:
   · Arrest Warrants should not be issued for minor offences where the effect of extradition is disproportionate to the alleged crime
   · Courts should be able to refuse extradition where it would breach fundamental rights, for example there has been a grossly unfair trial or a fair trial is clearly impossible
   · To accompany a fairer system of extradition, Europe must continue legislating to require all EU countries to respect basic fair trial rights and ensure people are not kept in pre-trial detention for excessive periods. Only then can we be confident that people will be treated fairly once extradited.