Written question asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UK Independence Party), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord West of Spithead (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 April 2010.

Justice: Arrest Warrants

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord West of Spithead on 19 November 2008 (WA 199) and 25 March 2010 (WA 324–5), how many British citizens have faced proceedings under the European arrest warrant; how many have been surrendered; and what accounts for any difference between the number arrested and the number deported.

Answer: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (for Scotland) are the designated authorities in the UK responsible for processing European arrest warrants (EAWs). It is not possible from current systems to break down the number of EAWs received by the UK into nationality. To do so would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost. On 19 November 2008, the Home Office replied to the noble Lord stating that, from 1 January 2004 up to 30 September 2008, 203 British citizens had been arrested pursuant to EAWs. 101 British nationals had subsequently been surrendered to other European member states pursuant to EAWs. Due to changes in late 2008 in the way the information was recorded it is not possible to provide figures for the remainder of 2008-09 without disproportionate effort. However, a new system introduced on 1 April 2009 will allow SOCA to provide more detailed figures once these have been validated. The difference between the number of arrests compared with the number of surrenders over any period is due to the judicial processes in the UK. Once the subject has been arrested on the European arrest warrant, it can take from a matter of days to many months before the subject is surrendered to the requesting territory

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 3189; 718 c439WA
Session: 2009-10
Related items: European Arrest Warrant
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Written questions
House of Lords; Justice: Arrest Warrants
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Arrests British nationality Extradition European arrest warrants
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk