Extradition

Baroness Smith of Basildon Excerpts

Tuesday 16th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. I do not think that I have had the opportunity to welcome him to his new position; I do so and look forward to working with him.

I entirely concur with our shadow Home Secretary, the right honourable Yvette Cooper, when she said in the other place that this was a serious decision and, as the Home Secretary explained, had to be based solely on the judgment as to whether Gary McKinnon’s extradition to the US would breach his human rights. It is testament to how serious a decision this is that the Home Secretary has taken two years to reach it. Within that time, she has commissioned further medical and legal advice. Can the Minister clarify whether the most recent psychiatric report commissioned by the Government was a separate and new medical opinion of Gary McKinnon or a review of the existing medical reports?

I focus on three specific issues in the Statement today: the Home Secretary’s announcement following Sir Scott Baker’s review; the implications that the Home Secretary’s decision may have for outstanding and future cases; and the European arrest warrant.

On the Baker review, it is clearly unacceptable that any case can be delayed for over 10 years pending a decision on extradition. I cannot overstate the difficulties and stress within this case but it is also a terrible burden on the victims and families; neither does it serve justice. We accept and agree with the conclusions of Sir Scott Baker’s review: that removing the role of the Home Secretary from human rights decisions in future will prevent cases languishing without decision for so long again.

In relation to the Government’s announcement of their intention to introduce the new forum bar the Minister will be aware that, when in government, we included the option for a forum bar in the Extradition Act. That has never been introduced. We understand and share Sir Scott Baker’s concerns over introducing further delays in the process, with the risk of endless satellite legislation. We will therefore be happy to work in co-operation with the Government on future legislation to resolve some of the outstanding practical concerns. We know that the expertise of your Lordships’ House will be especially important in that process. However, there is a wider problem that the Government have not addressed and I would be grateful if the Minister could help me on it. We are all becoming increasingly aware of cybercrime—a crime that can occur across several jurisdictions at the same time. As the legislation stands, a forum bar would not make any difference in dealing with the difficult decisions about whether extradition should take place. What efforts are the Government therefore making to work with the US, and other countries where we have existing extradition arrangements, on the development of new arrangements to deal with these emerging crimes?

I know that the Minister will also be aware of the case of Richard O’Dwyer, whose extradition was approved following charges brought in the US for conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement following his creation of a website. Not being particularly technical myself, I understand that the site included links to other websites where the copyright infringement was alleged to have taken place. In Richard O’Dwyer’s case, it has been noted that had the forum bar been applied at the time his extradition may not have been approved. Does the Minister feel that the proposals announced by the Home Secretary today fully address the issues raised by the O’Dwyer case, including when offences may have been committed in the UK at the same time as in another jurisdiction?

I have just one further point, which comes back to the discussion we had yesterday about the European arrest warrant. I understand the concerns that have been raised but I also understand and appreciate that this is incredibly valued, as I highlighted yesterday and as law enforcement agencies in this country have highlighted as well. I worry about losing those powers without having anything immediately in their place. The Minister said in repeating the Statement that the Government wanted to work with other European countries to seek changes to the European arrest warrant. Is he aware that work is already ongoing to make changes to and review the operation of that warrant? Does he know what contribution the UK Government are making to those discussions and deliberations at present? My fear is that when other European countries see that we want to withdraw from the European arrest warrant, it will make our power to influence discussion and deliberation of that issue at this time more difficult. If we decide to opt out and then try to opt back in, we may lose the opportunity to influence the changes that—there is some acceptance of this—need to be made. I hope that the Minister is able to address some of the questions I have raised.