A request had been made for the extradition of the applicant for offences for which he had already been tried and acquitted in Turkey. He said that the length of time since the offences made it unfair to return him, and that he faced the possibility of being tried twice for the same offence.
Held: When a court considered a request for extradition, and in particular a plea that it would be oppressive for a prosecution to go ahead because of the length of time since the offence alleged, the court should take account also of any possible double jeopardy. The defendant did not strictly face double jeopardy since he was subject to an appeal by the prosecution which might still result in his conviction. Nevertheless the facts could be taken into account under the general rule about oppressive prosecutions, and some of the offences could also be categorised as political.
Judges:
Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice and Mr Justice Ouseley
Citations:
Times 17-Jan-2002, Gazette 06-Mar-2002, [2001] EWHC Admin 1142
Links:
Statutes:
Extradition Act 1989 1(1) 6(3) 11(3)(b)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Extradition
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.167399