Lords call for greater transparency in extradition process

The UK should review the way it treats human rights assurances from foreign states during the extradition process, according to a House of Lords committee.

A report from the House of Lords Committee on Extradition Law found the way the UK accepts these promises does not guarantee an individual’s human rights are properly protected.

It also recommended the Government should re-examine its decision to means test legal aid in extradition cases, describing the Government’s most recent cost-benefit analysis as “neither sufficient nor credible”.

And while Chairman of the Committee Lord Inglewood described the European Arrest Warrant as a “vital tool in fighting crime across the EU”, he also warned it has been misused in the past, reminding the Government it should be used only as a last resort.

Inglewood said: “Extradition will always be a complex, sensitive and potentially controversial issue. In many cases, the stakes are high on a personal and, occasionally, international level.

“The Government must examine the practice of extradition taking place on the basis of assurances from the Issuing State. Assurances are given when there is a real risk of a person’s human rights being breached if they are extradited. The UK must be confident that it is fulfilling its obligation to ensure that extradition will not lead to human rights abuses.”

“We are pleased that the Government is reviewing how assurances are monitored; this work must be completed as a matter of urgency.  Furthermore, we believe that details of all assurances given to the UK should be collated and published regularly to improve the transparency of the process, enable the robust monitoring of assurances and allow for remedies and sanctions should the assurances not be adhered to.”

The Lords also examined the extradition deal between the UK and the US, identifying the length of time that individuals are held in pre-trial detention as an area of concern.

Inglewood said: “To address this, we recommend that Government seek a clearer understanding with the US, and potentially other extradition partners, as to how those who are extradited will be treated. We should of course be mindful that extradition arrangements must involve each country accepting, to a degree, the criminal justice systems of the other.”