Davis hands judges extradition powers to see off rebels

By Steven Swinford, Peter Foster and James Crisp

BRITISH judges will be able to block extradition requests by EU nations after Brexit under government plans to avoid a rebellion by Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, has said that the Supreme Court will act as the final body of appeal for British citizens facing extradition under the European Arrest Warrant instead of EU courts.

The approach, which will be set out in a Brexit position paper published ahead of negotiations, is intended to address the concerns of dozens of Eurosceptic Tory MPS who are considering rebelling over the issue.

Many of them remain concerned that retaining the European Arrest Warrant will still see British citizens extradited and forced to face “substandard” judicial systems abroad.

A source close to the negotiations said: “Downing Street is hyper-sensitive to re-opening the long-running row over the European Arrest Warrant with hard Brexiteers. Of all the position papers it’s the one thing they are worried about losing the backbenchers over.”

Mr Davis is also likely to face opposition from senior figures in the EU, who insist that the European Court of Justice must continue to have oversight of the system.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, told The Daily Telegraph: “We seek a close relationship with the UK after Brexit particularly on justice and security matters. Criminals and terrorists must

not be the beneficiaries of Brexit. However we are also determined that the legal order of the European Union is respected. The European Arrest Warrant is an instrument of European Union law and will therefore continue to be overseen by the European Court of Justice.”

The arrest warrant enables members of the European Union to extradite suspects from other member states. Britain surrenders an average of 1,000 individuals a year to other EU states and issues around 200.

The Government has said retaining membership of the European Arrest Warrant is a “priority” after Britain leaves the EU and described it as “absolutely essential” in bringing murderers, rapists and paedophiles to justice.

However, Tory Eurosceptics have long criticised the system amid concerns that it infringes on Britain’s sovereignty and has led to British citizens being deported on flimsy evidence.

Theresa May opted back into the system when she was home secretary in 2014. At the time, Mr Davis was one of 37 Tory MPS who rebelled against the Government over the issue.

He said at the time: “Let us remember what we are talking about – taking British citizens, with no prima facie evidence, and sending them off to courts elsewhere in Europe.

“What we have been asked to debate assumes that those courts all deliver equal justice. Romania does not deliver equal justice.

“Nor does Bulgaria, Greece or Italy. Some of them have post-soviet justice systems to which we are sending our constituents.”

Mr Davis is now proposing that after Brexit the Supreme Court will have ultimate oversight of requests to extradite citizens living in the UK, while the European Court of Justice will have oversight of those living in the EU.

He told peers last month: “If we issue a European arrest warrant you would expect that within the European Union to be subject to appeal all the way up through the normal national courts and from them to the ECJ.

“If a Polish police force submits a request for a British citizen in Britain, or anybody in Britain for that matter, it will go up to the British Supreme Court.”