An Act to consolidate enactments relating to extradition under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 and the Extradition Acts 1870 to 1935, with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission.
The Extradition Act 2003 (c. 41) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates extradition requests by and to the United Kingdom. The Act came into force on 1 January 2004. It transposed the European Arrest Warrant framework decision into British law and implemented the UK side of the controversial UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 before the treaty came into force in April 2007 after being ratified by the US Senate in 2006.[1][2]
Provisions
The act is divided into five parts.
Parts 1 and 2 deal with "category 1" and "category 2" territories respectively. While it is not mentioned in the Act, category 1 territories are all other member states of the European Union and Part 1 of the Act is the United Kingdom's implementation of the European Arrest Warrant framework decision. Part 2 of the Act is concerned with extradition to all other countries which have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom.
Part 3 deals with issuing European Arrest Warrants from the UK and extradition requests.
Part 4 regulates powers of arrest, search and seizure regarding individuals subject to European Arrest Warrants and extradition warrants.
The procedure used by the courts is set down in the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015, part 50.[3]
Examination by Parliament
The act has been examined in two reviews by Parliament. The first in 2011 by Sir Scott Baker[4] making a series of recommendations and the second examination by the House of Lords Extradition Law Committee in 2014.[5]
As a result of campaigning and scrutiny by Parliament, several amendments were made in 2014 in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. These included proportionality under section 21A and decision to try or charge under section 12A.[6]
Part 2 territories
Territories are designated as Category 2 territories both for the purposes of Part 2 of the Extradition Act, i.e. export extradition from the United Kingdom, and Part 3, i.e. import extradition to the United Kingdom.
These are the countries that the UK presently has extradition arrangements with:[7][8]
^Torres, Carlos (30 September 2006). "Senate Unanimously Ratifies US, UK Extradition Treaty". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 12 September 2008. Ratification had been slowed by complaints from some Irish- American groups that the treaty would create new legal jeopardy for U.S. citizens who opposed British policy in Northern Ireland.
