Attempts were being made by the Federal Government of Nigeria to recover moneys alleged to have been taken fraudulently from the state. They sought assistance from the UK, and the claimants sought details of that request. The statute provided that assistance should be confidential. The claimants asserted that since the fact of the request had been made public, the contents should be also in order to remedy a procedural unfairness. The request complied with the statutory requirements, and had to be accepted. No criminal proceedings were to follow. The court rejected the assertion of unfairness. It was important not to allow international requests of this nature not to be abused, but there was no requirement on the Secretary of State to seek any undertaking as to the use of material obtained, and any question of abuse was for the courts of the country concerned.
Judges:
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Tuckey
Links:
Statutes:
Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 23-May-2001
A prison policy requiring prisoners not to be present when their property was searched and their mail was examined was unlawful. The policy had been introduced after failures in search procedures where officers had been intimidated by the presence . .
Cited – Zadari v Secretary of State Admn 2001
In exercising his discretion on whether to transmit requested information to a foreign government, the respondent had to weigh all competing interests to safeguard against an abuse of the international mutual assistance process by foreign . .
Cited by:
Cited – Energy Financing Team Ltd and others v The Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Bow Street Magistrates Court Admn 22-Jul-2005
The claimants sought to set aside warrants and executions under them to provide assistance to a foreign court investigating alleged unlawful assistance to companies in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Held: The issue of such a warrant was a serious step. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Human Rights
Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.166640
