§ Lord Stone of Blackheathasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to improve the UK extradition laws. [HL4972]
§ Lord FilkinAt present it takes too long to extradite someone from the United Kingdom. Not only is this against the interests of justice and the victims of crime but it is the British taxpayer that foots the bill: paying for the fugitive to be detained and often funding their legal battle.
The previous Home Secretary launched a review of extradition law and the Home Office published proposals for consultation in March last year. Since then the attacks on 11 September have added impetus to European Union (EU) plans for an EU-wide arrest warrant.
The Government have already announced that we intend to legislate to bring this into effect. This will dramatically speed up the extradition process between EU states but not at the expense of fugitives' rights.
It should also make it possible in some circumstances to return people to the United Kingdom who, under the old system, would not have been extradited.
We also plan to streamline procedures for non-EU countries too.
We are today publishing a consultation paper containing a draft Extradition Bill which outlines our proposals and invites all of those with an interest to comment.
An Extradition Bill will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.