Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Friday, 3 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 7 October 2008. It was answered by Meg Hillier (Labour) on Thursday, 9 October 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Extradition

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by the working group initiated under the then Prime Minister's 12 point plan of August 2005 in order to deal with extradition requests to the UK; how many times the group met in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Since August 2005, 13 people have been extradited by the UK for terrorism-related offences; five people have been discharged by UK courts; five cases are ongoing and one case was withdrawn by the requesting state.The steering group established in 2005 to explore the issue of establishing a maximum time limit for extradition cases involving terrorism met on a monthly basis between September 2005 and November 2006. The original focus was to consult stakeholders on maximum time-limits. The group has continued to meet on a bi-monthly basis since November 2006 to discuss other extradition related issues and to maintain a watching brief on all ongoing terrorist-related extradition cases.

Secondary information