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| EXTRADITION  Extradition is defined as the delivering up of accused persons by one government to another. British residents can be removed under a “fast-track” extradition system to EU and certain other countries based on trust that the country seeking extradition has a fair legal system. This means that a British court never gets to consider whether there is evidence to justify the charge. The Extradition Act 2003 has eroded traditional protections in British law against summary and unfair extradition. Extradition law should have safeguards that ensure extradition always serves the interests of justice, that the complaint against the accused is genuine and backed up by evidence. Liberty believes:- - A person should not be extradited to stand trial in a foreign country without evidence being presented in a British court to prove there is a basic (prima facie) case against them
- - If the crime is alleged to have occurred in whole or in part in the UK, then the person should not be extradited if a court here decides it is not in the interest of justice to extradite
- - A person in the UK should not be extradited for something that is not a crime in the UK. British justice should not be circumvented.
Fast-track extradition is justice denied.
Case studies: read about individual cases in the extradition system.
27/11/09 In response to the Home Secretary’s decision not to intervene to prevent the extradition of Gary McKinnon, Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said: "A government can't tie its own hands and then protest that its hands are tied. The shoddy treatment of this vulnerable man should demonstrate that our rotten extradition laws need urgent reform." 27.11.2009
Human rights group Liberty today condemned the High Court decision that Gary McKinnon’s extradition must go ahead. Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has been charged with hacking into the US Pentagon and NASA systems between 1999 and 2002, an offence which was committed from his computer at home in London. 01.08.2009
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Gary McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp and Liberty's Director discuss Britain's rotten extradition laws, 27 November 2009 | |
Liberty’s Committee Stage Briefing on the Policing and Crime Bill (Part 6: Extradition) in the House of Lords, June 2009 (PDF) Liberty’s Second Reading Briefing on the Policing and Crime Bill (Part 6: Extradition) in the House of Lords, May 2009 (PDF) Liberty’s Second Reading Briefing on the Policing and Crime Bill in the House of Lords, May 2009 (PDF) Liberty’s Report Stage Briefing on Extradition in the Policing and Crime Bill in the House of Lords: Most Appropriate Forum, October 2009 (PDF) Proposed Forum Amendments in Relation to Extradition in the Policing and Crime Bill. Joint Legal Opinion from Mr Edward Fitzgerald QC of Doughty Street Chambers and Mr Julian Knowles of Matrix Chambers, October 2009 (PDF)
Letter criticising extradition treaty sent from ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, August 2009 (PDF) Guardian article by Liberty Policy Officer writing after High Court decision to extradite Gary McKinnon, 1 August 2009 Contact us for free copies of our leaflet about extradition -what it is, our concerns and case studies. Real-life examples of individuals facing unfair extradition.
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