Extradition Act 2003 (Codes of Practice and Transit Code of Practice) Order 2021

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Naseby (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am conscious that this is a complicated issue and that we in Parliament have to debate under the draft affirmative procedure and give our consent. I am not experienced in this area, but I looked closely at the Extradition Act 2003 code of practice. I studied some of the 63 pages. The code of practice is in principle 18 years old, so it is not surprising that some changes are being made. I have a few questions that arose from some of the reading I have done, first on search warrants, where an entry is made into a property or premises without a warrant for the purpose of arrest or a search of the premises. Has there been any change in the procedure over this period of 18 years? What happens when things go wrong, or perhaps not to plan? Does the aggrieved party have a right to an appeal or is there a review mechanism?

I notice that paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Memorandum, entitled “European Convention on Human Rights”, states that, in the view of the Commons Minister, the provisions

“are compatible with the Convention rights.”

I just wondered whether anybody has ever challenged that.

I note that paragraph 7.2 talks about

“PACE Codes and how arrests are to be carried out in relation to these new arrest powers. These codes do not apply to Scotland.”


Has that changed? I presume that originally they applied to Scotland; perhaps I am wrong. If they applied but do not now, is that because of something that was done at the time of devolution, or was there some other change in relation to Scotland?

In paragraph 7.4, towards the end, there is a sentence starting:

“Some modifications were made following consultation and further modifications were recently made via direct consultation with operational partners”.


It would be helpful to know in what area those modifications were and whether they were substantial or what I might call of minor interest.

I am not clear about paragraph 8.1 on the European arrest warrant. I am not quite sure what has happened to that.

Finally, under paragraph 12, “Impact”, how often do we have transit requests and are operations undertaken? Is this something that happens a few times a year, or are we regularly called on to help with transit arrangements?

I should be most grateful to the Minister if she can give some response to those questions either now or later in writing.