Home Office puts extradition review in motion
by Peter Wozniak
The terms of reference for a Home Office review into how Britain deals with extraditing individuals to foreign countries have been set, Theresa May has confirmed.
The home secretary detailed how the review process would be conducted, with a panel appointed to look at five areas of contention, including the controversial European arrest warrant and US-UK extradition treaty.
Ms May said: “I am fully aware that there are a number of areas of the UK’s extradition arrangements which have attracted controversy in recent years.
“This government is committed to reviewing those arrangements to ensure they work both efficiently and in the interests of justice.”
The review may lead to a dramatic change in Britain’s current extradition arrangements, as it will consider whether countries that request an extradition from the UK have to provide greater evidence for an allegation and whether judges should be allowed to block extraditions if the alleged crime was largely committed on British soil.
The review also carries implications for a number of politically important cases, particularly that of computer hacker Gary Mckinnon, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and is wanted by the United States for crimes which could see him handed a 60-year sentence were he to be tried there.
Mr Mckinnon has currently been granted a temporary reprieve by the home secretary.
The campaigning group Liberty expressed delight at the announcement of the review parameters, with its director Shami Chakrabati saying: “Britain’s rotten extradition system is in urgent need of overhaul and we welcome this much-needed review.
“No one should be parcelled off to a foreign land without due process or when they could be dealt with here at home – people in the UK have been vulnerable to accusation and transportation across the globe for far too long.”
The US-UK extradition Treaty, signed in 2003, is especially contentious as it is widely percieved to be lop-sided in favour of US interests.
An extradition from the UK to the US requires far less evidence to be provided than when the two countries’ roles are reversed.
David Blunkett, home secretary at the time the treaty was signed, and a driving force behind much of the anti-terror legislation of the Blair premiership, recently added impetus to calls for a review, when he expressed concern over the imbalance in the extradition relationship.
The Home Office has indicated that the panel for the review will be appointed shortly and will be expected to report back by late summer 2011.
