Each defendant objected to their proposed extradition to the US, saying that if extradited and convicted they would face the possibility of a death sentence or of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, each being incompatible with Article 3.
Held: No distinction could be drawn in principle between the assessment of the minimum level of severity required in the domestic context, and the same assessment in the extra-territorial context. The court was prepared to accept that in principle matters of appropriate sentencing largely fell outside the scope of the Convention, but, understandably, that a ‘grossly disproportionate sentence could amount to ill-treatment contrary to Article 3 at the moment of its imposition’. The ‘gross disproportionality’ test would only be met on ‘rare and unique occasions’.
Judges:
Lech Garlicki, President
Citations:
9146/07, [2012] ECHR 45, 32650/07, [2012] 6 Costs LO 733, (2012) 55 EHRR 19
Links:
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – HH v Deputy Prosecutor of The Italian Republic, Genoa SC 20-Jun-2012
In each case the defendant sought to resist European Extradition Warrants saying that an order would be a disporportionate interference in their human right to family life. The Court asked whether its approach as set out in Norris, had to be amended . .
Cited – Oakes and Others v Regina CACD 21-Nov-2012
A specially constituted CACD heard sentencing appeals for defendants serving life terms for very grave crimes, and in particular, the judicial assessment of the minimum term to be served by the appellants for the purposes of punishment and . .
Cited – Babar Ahmad And Aswat v United Kingdom ECHR 10-Apr-2012
The applicants said that if extradited to the USA to face charges related to terrorism, they would risk facing either imprisonment by Presidential decree, or full life terms.
Held: Detention conditions and length of sentences of five alleged . .
Cited – The Government of Ghana v Gambrah and Another Admn 16-May-2014
Ghana appealed from refusal of extradition of the respondent to face a charge of murder. The only sentence for murder in Ghana was death, but the government had undertaken not to impose that sentence. The district judge accepted the undertaking, but . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Extradition, Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 24 October 2022; Ref: scu.450377