Welcome to the Extradition Lawyers’ Association

The ELA is a growing international forum. We offer access to lawyers for people and foreign governments involved in extradition proceedings. We  organise training and conferences on extradition, and share with members a growing database of information about extradition law and practice, including national and international legislation and judgments. To register as a member of the ELA, please click here.

Dates for your diary:

  • The Annual ELA Lecture Night and Conference: 4th November 2009 at the Inner Temple London. 

  • ELA and Reprieve members attended a meeting hosted by 7 Bedford Row on 7th April 2009 where Mr Moazzam Begg of Cage Prisoners provided a first-hand account of his experience of being rendered to Guantánamo Bay, of being detained there and in other US detention facilities and the work that he has been engaged in since his release in January 2005. We hope you found the evening a useful one, and express our particular thanks to Miss Gemma Lindfield and 7 Bedford Row for their work coordinating the evening.

  • The First Annual ELA Lecture Night and Conference took place on 30th September 2008. Thank you to our speakers and sponsors (Furnival Chambers, Corker Binning, Peters & Peters, 6 KBW and 3 Raymond Buildings) for their valuable contributions. 

Members of the ELA receive regular e-mail updates of UK judgments and legislation. As the ELA expands, members will receive extradition judgments and legislation from abroad.  

Legal statement.

 

 

"Abu Qatada now a step closer to being deported from the UK after losing a key appeal against plans to send him to Jordan". Read more.  High Court Judgment [2009] UKHL 10.

The House of Lords hands down judgment in Mucelli and Moulai [2009] UKHL 2 and Wellington [2008] UKHL 72.

The Adminsitrative Court hands down judgments in Sonea [2009] EWHC 89 (Admin) and Caldarelli (No. 2) [2009] EWHC 107 (Admin). Many thanks to Lisa Freeman (Furnival Chambers) and Mark Summers (Matrix) for sending these judgments to the ELA.

Chyba v Czech Republic [2008] EWHC 3292 (Admin):
The appellant (C) appealed against a decision of City of Westminster Magistrates' Court consenting under the Extradition Act 2003 s.55(6) to a request from the respondent requesting state that C serve a sentence of imprisonment in respect of a conviction which was not related to his original extradition. C argued his conditions of detention in the Czech Prison amounted to a breach of art.3. HELD: In the absence of statutory provisions for an appeal against consent requests, the appropriate mechanism would be to apply for judicial review.  However, the facts came nowhere near establishing an art.3 breach so this was not a case in which permission could be granted. Many thanks to Amelia Nice (37 Great James Street) for her summary.

The AIRE Centre proposes a "European Cross Border Justice Project: Towards Cross-Border Solutions to Transnational Problems". A paper setting out the aims and timetable of the project can be downloaded here, or for more information, please contact tchristou@airecentre.org  

The ELA is pleased to recieve any judgment that you think is of interest to ELA members

Many thanks to Advocate Anton Katz of the Cape and New York Bar for sending us a recent extradition decision of the High Court of Namibia: Jacob Alexender -and- The Minister of Justice and Others [2nd July 2008] A210/2007.

"Magistrates in London have upheld a request to extradite four men to Rwanda to face mass murder charges."

Read more about the decision by clicking on the link.

"Abu Qatada now a step closer to being deported from the UK after losing a key appeal against plans to send him to Jordan"

Read more 

"Gary McKinnon, the British computer enthusiast who hacked into Pentagon and Nasa systems, could face up to 70 years in prison after losing his battle against extradition to America."  Read more.

"Britain is to delay the extradition of radical Muslim preacher Abu Hamza to the US to face charges that he helped set up an al Qaida terror training camp. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on Monday that Abu Hamza should not be extradited until judges could examine his case. The Home Office said it would abide by the court's request." Read more.    

Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lords in Waiting, HM Household; Labour) rose to move, That the draft Extradition Act 2003 (Amendment to Designations) Order 2008 laid before the House on 6 May be approved. Link to Hansard.

"MUNICH, Germany, June 9 (UPI) -- A German citizen who claims he was kidnapped and tortured as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" anti-terrorism program is seeking legal relief"

Read more in United Press International and BBC news.

"War criminal Radovan Karadzic was extradited early today (30 July) to the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, following violent clashes between Belgrade police and hard-line nationalists only hours before." Read more.

"Magistrates in London have upheld a request to extradite four men to Rwanda to face mass murder charges." Read more.

Ismoilov and Others v. Russia - 2947/06 [2008] ECHR 348 (24 April 2008). The ECrtHR found extradition from Russia to Uzbekistan would violate Articles 3, Article 5(1) and Article 6(2) of the ECHR.

In particular, Article 6(2) was violated because the extradition decisions declared that the accused applicants should be extradited because they had “committed” acts of terrorism and other criminal offences in Uzbekistan. That amounted to a declaration of the applicants' guilt which could encourage the public to believe them guilty and which prejudged the assessment of the facts by the competent judicial authority in Uzbekistan. Read judgment.

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP responds to the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police's calls to extend the European Arrest Warrant to include extraditing people for questioning, rather than after charge.

To listen to a free download of the interview on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, click here.  

Kozeny -and- The Superintendent of Her Majesty's Fox Hill Prison -and- The Government of the Untied States of America [The Supreme Court of the Bahamas]; Case No. CI/HSC/00032/2006.

The Supreme Court of the Bahamas orders discharge. With thanks to Clive Nicholls QC for supplying the ELA with a copy of the Judgment. Read Judgment.  

Fletcher v. Government of France [Supreme Court of Gibraltar]:

Applying decisions of the High Court of England and Wales, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar refused a French extradition request because the requested person was not an "accused" person (with thanks to Colin Nicholls QC for supplying the Judgment for the ELA)  Read Judgment.   

Saadi v. Italy (application no. 37201/06).

The European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that if the decision to deport the applicant to Tunisia were to be enforced, there would be a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment): Read more…

The ELA successfully held its fifth workshop on Monday 4th August 2008. 

Many thanks to Furnival Chambers (Chambers of Oliver Blunt QC & Sally O'Neill QC - specialists in serious crime, civil/criminal fraud, asset forfeiture, confiscation and extradition) for hosting the workshop designed and delivered by Miss Charlotte Powell.

Ismoilov and Others v. Russia - 2947/06 [2008] ECHR 348 (24 April 2008). The ECrtHR found extradition from Russia to Uzbekistan would violate Articles 3, Article 5(1) and Article 6(2) of the ECHR.

In particular, Article 6(2) was violated because the extradition decisions declared that the accused applicants should be extradited because they had “committed” acts of terrorism and other criminal offences in Uzbekistan. That amounted to a declaration of the applicants' guilt which could encourage the public to believe them guilty and which prejudged the assessment of the facts by the competent judicial authority in Uzbekistan. Read judgment.