Extradition: Gary McKinnon

Lord Morris of Aberavon Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Morris of Aberavon]

My Lords, are the Government giving any consideration to the fairness of the extradition treaty and will they revisit it?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, the coalition agreement stated that there would be a review of extradition arrangements and in September 2010 the Government announced that the right honourable Sir Scott Baker would lead a review, which is now well under way. That review panel will visit Brussels about the European arrest warrant and Washington about the extradition treaty with the United States in May, and it will report this summer. That panel will cover the breadth of the Secretary of State’s discretion in an extradition case, the operation of the European arrest warrant, whether the US/UK extradition treaty is unbalanced, and whether requesting states should be required to provide prima facie evidence. This is a very thorough review by three respected barristers.