Implementing the European Arrest Warrant: A Tale of How Not to Do it

The broad aim of the Extradition Act 2003 was to simplify extradition. It is a controversial piece of legislation. For its supporters, it is a welcome law ensuring that those who commit crimes in this country no longer evade justice by removing themselves abroad. For its detractors, it is a legislative sell-out which means that honest Englishmen, when falsely accused elsewhere of crimes they did not commit, are now removed, without a proper examination of the merits of the case, for trial in foreign legal systems which, by definition, leave much to be desired. The purpose of this paper, however, is not to examine the policy behind the Act. Instead it looks at the narrower question of the technical quality of the drafting by which the policy was—or was meant to be—carried out. Among other things, the Act was intended to implement within the United Kingdom the European Arrest Warrant, brought into being at the European level by a Framework Decision in June 2002.1 And the particular issue to be examined here is how competently, or otherwise, the relevant provisions of the Extradition Act carried this project into effect.

Journal/Publisher: Statute Law Review, Vol. 30, Issue 3

Publication type: Article

Number of pages/Page range: 184-202

Language/s (content): English

Date of publication: 02-11-09

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Full name John R. SPENCER

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University/Institution University of Cambridge

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Email jrs1000@cam.ac.uk