Extradition Act 2003
Encyclopedia
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It came into force on 1 January 2004 and all import and export extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
requests submitted or received from this date are covered by the Act. It concerns itself with extradition to and from the UK in respect of all territories and in particular implements into UK law the 2003 US-UK Extradition Treaty.
Controversy
Controversy surrounds the US-UK extradition treaty of 2003 which was implemented in this act. It has been claimed to be one-sided because it allows the US to extradite UK citizens and others for offences committed against US law, even though the alleged offence may have been committed in the UK by a person living and working in the UK (see for example the NatWest ThreeNatWest Three
The NatWest Three, also known as the Enron Three, are three British businessmen - Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew. In 2002 they were indicted in Houston, Texas on seven counts of wire fraud against their former employer Greenwich NatWest, at the time a division of National...
), and there being no reciprocal right; and issues about the level of proof required being less to extradite from the UK to the US rather than vice-versa.
Among other provisions Part 2 of the Act: Extradition to category 2 territories (non-European Arrest warrant territories) removed the requirement on the USA to provide prima facie
Prima facie
Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...
evidence in extraditions from the UK, requiring instead only reasonable suspicion
Reasonable suspicion
Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch' ";...
. This was necessary to redress the previous imbalance against the USA under the 1870 Act, as the UK did not have to provide the more onerous prima facie evidence to extradite from the USA. The requirement for the UK is to show probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...
'.
There is also concern at the loss of entitlement of UK citizens to legal aid
Legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...
for maintaining an adequate defence to criminal charges once they are extradited to US jurisdiction where costs are largely met by the defendant's private means. This has been a cause of controversy in cases where it has been perceived that the UK has suitable legislation for prosecuting offences domestically.
The manner of its implementation also caused concern because of alleged secrecy and minimal parliamentary scrutiny.
In response to these concerns, the Home Secretary Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
appointed The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Scott Baker
Scott Baker (judge)
Sir Thomas Scott Gillespie Baker , styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Scott Baker , is an English Court of Appeal judge....
to conduct an official review of the UK's extradition treaties, with the assistance of two independent extradition experts. The review was directed to address evidence standards and whether the US-UK Extradition Treaty is unbalanced. Sir Scott Baker's report was presented to the Home Secretary on September 30, 2011, and concluded that there is no substantial difference in evidence standards, that the treaty is balanced and that there is not "any basis to conclude that extradition from the United Kingdom to the US
operates unfairly or oppressively".
US ratification, 2006
The US-UK Extradition Treaty 2003 was first sent to the US Senate for approval in April 2004. But another component of the controversy noted above was a result of the delay of the US in ratifying it into US law. Baroness Scotland, UK Minister of State for the Criminal Justice System at the Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, travelled to the US on Thursday 13 July 2006 to address this problem. This move was prompted by political criticism of the Extradition Act 2003 within the UK and an opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
proposal to amend the Act in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. It also coincided with public disquiet at the case of the NatWest Three
NatWest Three
The NatWest Three, also known as the Enron Three, are three British businessmen - Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew. In 2002 they were indicted in Houston, Texas on seven counts of wire fraud against their former employer Greenwich NatWest, at the time a division of National...
who were extradited on the same date. For this act of personal diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
to be successful the Treaty would have needed to pass with a two-thirds majority in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, but her mission was unsuccessful. This meant the NatWest three were extradited to the US under the US-UK Extradition Treaty 2003, even though that treaty had not been ratified in the US.
On 30 September 2006 the US Senate unanimously ratified the treaty. British Home Secretary John Reid
John Reid (politician)
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, PC is a British politician, who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament and cabinet minister under Tony Blair, most notably as Defence Secretary and then Home Secretary...
said he was "delighted" that Baroness Scotland's visit to the US over the summer succeeded in getting Senate agreement.
Ratification had been slowed by complaints from some Irish-American groups that the treaty would create new legal jeopardy for PIRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
terrorists who fled to the USA in the 1980s and their American supporters.
Cases where the Act has been applied
- Gary McKinnonGary McKinnonGary McKinnon is a Scottish systems administrator and hacker who has been accused of what one U.S. prosecutor claims is the "biggest military computer hack of all time," although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a cover-up of UFO...
- NatWest ThreeNatWest ThreeThe NatWest Three, also known as the Enron Three, are three British businessmen - Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew. In 2002 they were indicted in Houston, Texas on seven counts of wire fraud against their former employer Greenwich NatWest, at the time a division of National...
- Babar Ahmad
- Abu Hamza al-MasriAbu Hamza al-MasriAbu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...
- Alex Stone - alleged child abuse, charges subsequently dropped after 6 months in US jail. According to Mr. Stone "there appeared to be no defence to extradition and no evidence at all was presented in this case".
- Ian Norris of Morgan CrucibleMorgan CrucibleThe Morgan Crucible is one of the largest UK manufacturers of carbon and ceramic products for industrial use. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index.-History:...
- alleged price fixing (not a crime in the UK at the time). Extradition overturned by the House of Lords on appeal. Subsequent extradition request on obstruction of justice charges approved in July 2008, extradited March 2010. - Wojciech Chodan and Jeffrey Tesler face extradition over their alleged role in a Nigerian bribery scandal, but argue that almost none of the misconduct they are accused of was connected to the US and that the alleged bribery plot took place mainly in the UK or Nigeria .
- Richard O'DwyerRichard O'DwyerRichard O'Dwyer is a UK student for which the US Justice Department has requested extradition in May 2011 under the 2003 US-UK Extradition Treaty in relation to alleged copyright infringement. The Southern District Court in New York has charged Richard O'Dwyer in relation to links on TVShack.net...
, extradition request made in May 2011. The extradition request follows the Southern District Court in New York bringing two charges against Richard O'Dwye for criminal copyright infringementCopyright infringementCopyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
in relation to TVShack.net. The two charges, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal infringement of copyright, each carry a maximum sentence of five years.
External links
- cps.gov.uk - the Crown Prosecution ServiceCrown Prosecution ServiceThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
guidelines on extradition to Category 2 territories - statewatch.org - statewatchStatewatchStatewatch is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 that monitors the state and civil liberties in the European Union. It is composed of lawyers, academics, journalists, researchers and community activists. Its European network of contributors is drawn from 14 countries...
page on the Act