Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the bars to extradition, including the extraneous conditions set out in the Extradition Act 2003 as amended, for protecting individuals against unsafe extradition.

The Government believes that UK extradition law provides a fair balance between the rights of an individual and the interests of justice. A number of reviews into the law and practice relating to extradition in the UK have informed this view, including the House of Lords Select Committee report on Extradition Law and practice, an independent review of the UK’s extradition arrangements by Sir Scott Baker, and reports from the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights, amongst others

The Extradition Act 2003 contains a number of statutory bars to extradition which the judge must consider in each case. If a judge decides that any of the statutory bars against extradition applies, he or she must order the person’s discharge. In addition, for requests made to the UK from outside the EU, there are further statutory bars to extradition which the Secretary of State must consider in each case.