LONDON — Britain is to review its extradition laws after widespread concern existing treaty arrangements with the United States are biased against the UK.
Home Secretary Theresa May announced the year-long review of agreements with the United States and European countries to examine whether they are fair and balanced.
“I am fully aware there are a number of areas of the UK’s extradition arrangements which have attracted controversy in recent years,” May told parliament yesterday in a written statement.
“This government is committed to reviewing those arrangements to ensure they work both efficiently and in the interests of justice,” she said.
The review, to be conducted by a small panel of experts, comes after a number of high-profile cases, including that of Gary McKinnon, wanted by US authorities for hacking into military computers.
Earlier this year, May halted his extradition ahead of the expected review announcement.
The review will consider the operation of the Extradition Act, including the European arrest warrant, and whether the 2003 US-UK extradition treaty is “unbalanced”.
The US treaty was drawn up after the September 11 attacks to help fight terrorism by allowing the quick transfer of suspects. By last year, only one terrorism suspect had been extradited under it.
Critics say the treaty is lop-sided because it is easier to extradite people from the UK than from the United States.
The review will also focus on looking at the breadth of the Home Secretary’s discretion to intervene in cases and whether countries need to provide prima facie evidence.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, welcomed the review, saying suspects in Britain had been vulnerable to accusation and transportation across the globe for far too long.
“Britain’s rotten extradition system is in urgent need of overhaul,” she said.
“No-one should be parcelled off to a foreign land without due process or when they could be dealt with here at home.” — Reuters