§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (i) those countries within the European Community which will extradite their nationals to the United Kingdom when charged with fraud-related offences committed here and (ii) those countries within the European Community to which the United Kingdom would extradite British nationals resident here to face charges of fraud committed in those countries.
§ Mr. John PattenFraud is included as an extraditable offence in all the bilateral treaties between the United Kingdom and the other members of the European Community, and is also covered by the backing of warrants procedure which operates between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The United Kingdom, which has very limited extra-territorial jurisdiction, is prepared (subject to the circumstances of the case and our treaty arrangements 909W with the country concerned) to extradite United Kingdom nationals to stand trial in the place where the offence was committed. This contrasts with the position in many civil law countries, which have wide extra-territorial powers to prosecute for offences committed outside their territory, but which are restricted constitutionally from extraditing their own nationals. The United Kingdom's extradition arrangements with the member countries of the European Community reflect this difference of approach.
Under the treaties with Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Portugal and Spain, the United Kingdom may extradite nationals to stand trial abroad, but those countries have discretion to refuse the extradition of their nationals here. The Netherlands are in a broadly similar position, although an amendment to their domestic law in 1981 now permits the extradition of a Dutch national here if the Dutch authorities are satisfied that there is sufficient guarantee that the offender would be returned to serve any prison sentence in the Netherlands. The Luxembourg treaty expressly prohibits the extradition of their nationals, while allowing United Kingdom nationals to be extradited there. Three further treaties, with Denmark, Greece and Italy, prohibit the extradition of nationals in either direction, so that the United Kingdom cannot at present extradite United Kingdom nationals to those countries. (This limitation on United Kingdom freedom of action will be removed later this year when the United Kingdom ratifies the European convention on extradition, which will take the place of existing extradition treaties with convention countries.) There are no restrictions on the extradition of nationals in either direction between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.