Written question asked by Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour) on Monday, 22 March 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 March 2021. It was answered by Chris Philp (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 March 2021 on behalf of the Home Office.

Extradition: USA

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2021 to Question 146998, for what reason her Department concluded that the higher population of the US relative to that of the UK naturally results in a lower number of extraditions of US nationals from the US to the UK in absolute terms in comparison to the number of UK nationals extradited from the UK to the US.

Answer: The United States has a population about five times the size of the United Kingdom. The numerical imbalance is to be expected given the balance of overall populations and expatriate populations of the US and the UK. The fact that a larger country has a greater number of live investigations means that it will inevitably produce more extradition requests. It is important to note that comparing numbers of extraditions is not a valid way to assess whether the provisions of a treaty are balanced. The way to do that is to compare the tests and safeguards that apply in the laws of the treaty partners.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 173147
Session: 2019-21
Related items: Extradition: USA
Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Extradition USA
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk