HC Deb 16 July 1981 vol 8 cc1380-1
11. Mr. Molyneaux

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will renew attempts to secure effective extradition arrangements with the Irish Republic.

Mr. Humphrey Atkins

The Government's views on extradition are well known to the new Government in the Republic of Ireland. We consider that extradition would be the best way of bringing to justice fugitives south of the border for the crimes they are alleged to have committed in Northern Ireland. In its absence, the extra-territorial legislation remains the best alternative. As in the past, we expect the Government of the Republic to use this legislation, which permits prosecution in one jurisdiction for an offence committed in the other.

Mr. Molyneaux

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that my question was tabled some time before his statement this afternoon about the responsibility of his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs? For that I apologise. However, does not extradition depend on the definition of the term "political offence"? Should not the Government and the courts of the Irish Republic be forced to explain before international opinion how they can apply that term to murder, robbery and other such crimes?

Mr. Atkins

The Government of the Republic, like any Government, must answer at the bar of world opinion. I am sure that they will note what the hon. Gentleman has said.

Sir John Biggs-Davison

Have not the Criminal Jurisdiction Act and the Republic's Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act proved ineffective? Will my right hon. Friend urgently review their working and report to the House?

Mr. Atkins

The cross-border jurisdiction Acts have not produced the results that we hoped. However, I remind my hon. Friend that a man is currently appearing before the courts in the Republic charged with the murder of Mr. Ross Hearst, a member of the UDR, just inside the border in County Armagh last September.

Mr. Concannon

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that we would take the blandishments of the Government of the Republic on other matters a little more seriously if they took this matter more seriously? Is he aware that some of their actions suggest that they are not responding to the full, in particular their unwillingness to hand over some of the escaped criminals and others who are living in their country?

Mr. Atkins

I note what the right hon. Gentleman says. The new Government of the Republic are in their early days of office. Let us hope that the procedures agreed between us will prove to be more effective than they sometimes seem to have been in the past.