UK to demand judicial powers to block EU extradition

BRITISH and EU negotiators are on a collision course over the terms of a new extradition treaty during a crunch round of trade talks with Brussels, which start today.

The UK will demand its judges have greater powers to refuse EU extradition requests than under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system it must leave at the end of the year.

Warrants could be dismissed if there had not yet been a decision to charge or try the wanted suspect to prevent long periods of pre-trial detention, under the British plan, or if the UK courts think the cost of an arrest outweighs the seriousness of the offence.

The European Commission wants EU courts to be able to refuse extradition requests for suspects facing whole life sentences unless Britain agrees to review the penalty either on request or, at the latest, 20 years after the sentence.

Whole life sentences have been subject to failed legal challenges on the basis that they fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK has refused to commit to never leaving the Convention during the negotiations, but insists it will not leave it.

Brussels also wants judges to refuse extradition requests if they believe they are motivated by the suspect’s “sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, language, political opinions or sexual orientation”.

The EAW replaced bilateral extradition agreements between countries with a much faster system that involved the judiciary directly rather than politicians. It was agreed, with British support, two months after 9/11.

The Government’s refusal to allow any future role for the European Court of Justice in Britain after Brexit means a replacement extradition system must be agreed before the end of the transition period.

The UK and EU must also finalise a free trade agreement by Dec 31, unless No10 caves on its repeated insistence it will not extend transition, or be forced to trade on less lucrative WTO terms.

British officials want a deal modelled on the EU’S 2019 agreements with Norway and Iceland but with the additional safeguards that were not part of the EAW system. The EU’S draft new extradition treaty says warrants can only be issued for crimes which are punishable by at least a year in prison or, if sentence has already been passed, by four months in jail.

Under the EU’S offer, the costs for the execution of the warrant are borne by the state executing it but all the other expenses of the extradition are paid by the issuing country.