§ 22. Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock)If she will make a statement on co-operation on extraditions between her office and her opposite numbers in (a) EU and (b) EU accession states. [121689]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Attorney-General and I have responsibility for extradition cases from Ireland. We discuss these regularly with the Irish Attorney-General. Requests for extradition from EU and accession states are dealt with by the Crown Prosecution Service.
§ Andrew MackinlayOur treaty obligations and those of other European Union countries in relation to extradition are not working. There are 22 requests from France outstanding from the past five years which we have been unable to respond to—one each for 1995, 1996,1997 and 1998. If it was the other way round, some members of our press and hon. Members in this place would be going up the wall. Spain has two requests from 1996. Spain and the UK have a disgraceful mutual track record. Is it not time that we addressed this issue, so that within the European Union there is swift, fast-track extradition, ensuring that people are brought to court in all these fair jurisdictions?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. If offences are committed here but the evidence is abroad or the defendant is abroad, we want them back here so that we can bring them to justice. Similarly, if people commit offences abroad and the other country wants them, we should ensure that we expeditiously arrange for them to be extradited.
The issues that my hon. Friend has raised are starting to be addressed. Last month I attended the launch of an organisation called Eurojust, which is a network of European prosecutors, and I also discussed these issues with my counterpart Justice Ministers in Europe. The new European arrest warrant, when it comes into effect in January, will ensure that we have fewer hurdles and obstacles and less red tape, all of which delay and frustrate the system.