To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the compliance of United Kingdom extradition procedures with human rights regulations.
Answered on
19 March 2015
The United Kingdom’s extradition legislation has a number of safeguards in place to ensure that extradition would not result in a person suffering treatment which would be in breach of their human rights.
In determining whether to order extradition the District Judge must be satisfied that the person’s extradition is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 as set out in section 21 (Part 1) and section 87 (Part 2) of the Extradition Act 2003 (the 2003 Act).
In Part 2 of the 2003 Act, particular safeguards ensure that people are not extradited and suffer a breach of their human rights. The District Judge must decide whether any of the statutory bars to extradition apply. These bars include whether an extradition request was made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the person on account of his race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or political opinion. Furthermore, the forum bar, introduced in the Crime and Courts Act 2013, sets out that if a substantial measure of the offence in question was performed in the UK, extradition must be barred.
In addition, in ordering extradition, the Secretary of State must consider whether extradition is prohibited because he or she could face the death penalty. This is an absolute prohibition and may require a written assurance from the requesting state that the death penalty will not be imposed, or will not be carried out, if imposed.
Finally, a person may raise human rights on appeal, with at present, a right to appeal to the High Court and on to the Supreme Court. There is also the possibility of human rights appeals being brought late under section 108 of the 2003 Act.