§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What reference is made to prisoners held on extradition applications in HM Prison Service's Manual on Security, and what consideration is given 126WA to the identification of inmates who may need to be recorded as provisional Category A cases when the offences with which they may be charged in the countries making the application have no equivalent in the criminal law of the United Kingdom; and
What instructions they have given to HM Prison Service on how to decide whether to place in Category A inmates held pending extradition applications who have not been charged with any offence in the United Kingdom.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Derek Lewis, dated 14 December 1994:
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the application of Category A to persons held in prison custody in connection with extradition applications.The Prison Service's security manual makes no specific reference to persons held in custody pending extradition applications. Category A can be applied to any person in prison custody if, after careful consideration of all available information, the highest security category is considered to be appropriate.