§ Baroness Goudieasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consideration has been given to creating, as the basis for extradition between all European Union member states, arrangements along the lines of those which apply between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland; and [HL1160]
81WAWhether there are any aspects of the extradition arrangements between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which would be inappropriate in relation to arrangements between the United Kingdom and other European Union member states. [HL1161]
§ Lord RookerExtradition arrangements between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are based on the Backing of Warrants (Republic of Ireland) Act 1965 and reciprocal legislation in the Republic of Ireland. The European Commission's recent proposals for a European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states and the Government's proposals published inThe Law on Extradition: A Review are similar to the backing of warrants arrangements between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. We do not believe that any of the provisions of existing extradition arrangements with the Republic of Ireland are inappropriate, but the mutual recognition agenda agreed at the Tampere Special European Council in 1999 has given rise to fresh thinking on concepts like dual criminality, specialty and the political offence bar to extradition. Some of the traditional bars to extradition, which appear in our reciprocal legislation with Ireland, have been relaxed or removed in the European Commission proposals.