§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of removing 977W the requirement for a prima facie case for extradition requests from the United States of America, with regard to the new Extradition Treaty with the United States of America. [125032]
§ Caroline FlintThe new UK-USA bilateral Extradition Treaty will remove the requirement for the United States to provide prima facie evidence to accompany its extradition requests.
The United Kingdom already misapplies the prima facie requirement for some 40 other countries—the signatories to the European Convention on Extradition—and we see no reason why this facility should not be available to an established democracy such as the USA.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for improving extradition procedures; and what his timetable is for changes. [126817]
§ Caroline FlintThe Extradition Bill, which will reform the United Kingdom's extradition law, is currently in Committee Stage in Another Place. We hope it will receive Royal Assent later this year.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the new extradition treaty signed with the US on 31 March 2003. [126908]
§ Caroline FlintAs at 17 July 2003, the Home Office had received 38 letters and e-mails either directly from members of the public or via Members of Parliament. There have also been a number of parliamentary questions on this topic in this House and Another Place.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been extradited from theUnited Kingdom to the United States in each of the last five years. [124970]
§ Caroline FlintThe information requested is as follows:
Number of persons surrendered by UK to USA 1998 7 1999 7 2000 9 2001 8 2002 12