§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the last 15 years the number of extradition warrants issued by police forces in England and Wales for persons sought by them for terrorist type crimes whom the police believed to be resident in the United States of America; how many of the persons sought were returned to the United Kingdom in each year; and if he will give the same information in respect of persons sought for crimes not related to terrorism. [44916]
§ Mr. StrawMy right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and for Scotland are responsible for extradition requests based on offences committed within those jurisdictions.
An arrest warrant issued in England and Wales cannot form an extradition request. Extradition arrangements with the United States are conducted on a treaty basis. A formal extradition request by the United Kingdom is prepared by the relevant prosecuting authority and is made through diplomatic channels, typically when the fugitive has been located in a particular country.
Home Office records of extradition requests do not indicate as a matter of course whether the offence which formed the basis of an extradition request was related to terrorism. Records do show, however, that between 1983and 1997, one request was made to the United States for the return of a person on the basis of terrorist offences. That person was returned to the United Kingdom in 1996.
644WThe table sets out the total number of requests made by the Home Office to the United States in each of the last 15 years, and the number of people returned from there in each of those years.
Year Number of requests made to the United States Number of people returned from the United States 1983 3 3 1984 4 5 1985 6 4 1986 4 7 1987 10 5 1988 8 8 1989 5 3 1990 7 5 1991 6 7 1992 7 6 1993 4 5 1994 2 3 1995 8 3 1996 3 4 1997 8 3 Note:
Twelve requests made during the period were subsequently withdrawn.