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Proceeding contribution from Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Thursday, 30 June 2005. It occurred during Question for short debate on Extradition: UK and USA.


Extradition: UK and USA

My Lords, my quotations are from the US Department of Justice and Mr Hammond, but I accept what the noble Lord says and will ensure that I go no further on that. Those excerpts speak for themselves. They suggest that, rather than being used as a fast-track method for extraditing terrorists, the treaty is being used by the US for much wider purposes. So where do we go from here? It is perhaps relevant to draw the attention of the House to Article 24, which is entitled, ““Termination””. It provides that either state may terminate the treaty at any time by giving written notice to the other state effective six months after the receipt of such notice. That is one option. The other is to remove the US from the list of Part 2 designated states in the Extradition Act 2003 that are permitted to dispense with prima facie evidence. In summary, the treaty has been missold to the public in this country; opens UK citizens to potentially oppressive legal action; is of no value to the UK; and, to date, has been of no value to international security. I look forward to hearing from the noble Baroness which of those options—termination or removal—the Government intend to follow, and if and when they intend to do so.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
673 c403 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Conspiracy Fraud Evidence Extradition Parliamentary scrutiny Reciprocal arrangements Treaties Restrictive practices USA Morgan Crucible Price fixing Norris, Ian
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk