Edwards v Government of United States of America: Admn 31 Jul 2007

Sedley LJ discussed and rejected the argument that ‘the analogue of the warrant is the request’ in extradition procedure and said: ‘Here, as in Dabas, the question is what is ‘the conduct’ which has to amount to an extradition offence? Is it the conduct asserted in the indictment or the conduct recounted as giving rise to it?
Lord Hope said in terms in the last sentence at para 48 of Dabas, it seems to me that the policy and objects of the 2003 Act point clearly towards the former meaning. The Act limits the requisite documentation, albeit leaving it open to requesting states to add more. But if the evaluation of the request is not confined to the required materials, there is no apparent limit to what further documentation can be introduced, and a statutory process designed to be lean and schematic will become expansive and porous . .
I conclude that ‘the conduct’ referred to in section 137 is confined to the facts alleged in ‘the offence specified in the request’, the phrase used in sections 70 and 78. In a normal US case such as the present one this will limit the inquiry into dual criminality to, on the one hand, the indictment and any document incorporated by reference into it and, on the other, the criminal law of England and Wales.’

Judges:

Sedley LJ

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 1877 (Admin), [2007] All ER (D) 501 (Jul)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Extradition Act 2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedNorris v United States of America and others HL 12-Mar-2008
The detainee appealed an order for extradition to the USA, saying that the offence (price-fixing) was not one known to English common law. The USA sought his extradition under the provisions of the Sherman Act.
Held: It was not, and it would . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Extradition

Updated: 11 July 2022; Ref: scu.258816