News
Extradition to the United States; success for JFH Crime
John Howey, Partner at JFH Crime, has secured the discharge of a client wanted for extradition to the United States. Warrants for countries such as the United States are known as Part II warrants. Our client, an American citizen, was arrested earlier this year after a warrant was issued by the Federal Court in California. It is alleged that he had made a ‘false statement involving...Read More
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Certificate for Counsel in Extradition
In both Part 1 and Part 2 extradition proceedings, there is scope for an application to be made to Court for a ‘certificate for counsel’ pursuant to Regulation 16 of the Criminal Legal Aid (Determinations by a court and Choice of Representative Regulations 2013/614). The test under Regulation 16 is whether there are circumstances in the extradition proceedings which make the case ‘unusually...Read More
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Habeas Corpus in Extradition
European Arrest Warrants (EAW) strictly speaking, have no operative value in England and Wales. Instead, we have the Extradition Act 2003 that allows one’s extradition to be acted on if there is a Part 1 or a Part 2 warrant. Part 1 warrants are presently only for EU territories and therefore EAWs are incorporated through the Act. To qualify as a Part 1 warrant, section 2 of the Act must be...Read More
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MET; a cut too far?
The MET police in London announced this week that it was ‘not practical’ to investigate certain low level crimes in London due to a strain on budget and future savings that are required to be made. According to New Scotland Yard, there would be a shift towards ‘empowering our officers’ to assess for themselves whether it was proportionate to investigate offences such as shoplifting, criminal...Read More
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Abuse of process in Extradition cases
Criminal lawyers will be familiar with the term ‘Abuse of process’. To those unfamiliar with it, it is a situation where there is something so wrong and so unfair with a case that it should not be allowed to go ahead. It is not found in any legislation, and it doesn’t appear in the Extradition Act. However, the Courts in this country have decided that it is something that can be used in...Read More
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Can further information be admitted in Appeal hearings?
FK v Stuttgart State Prosecutor’s Office In our last e-alert, we reported on the case of Tarik Chadloui who is facing extradition to Spain. In his case, the Spanish Judicial Authority were able to adduce further evidence to cure deficiencies in the EAW. In September, the High Court considered a similar question in the case of FK v Stuttgart State Prosecutor’s Office, Germany. Except in this...Read More
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Mass Spectrometry; the future of the fingerprint evidence?
A new technique for identifying criminals could be in use ‘within months’ following years of development by Sheffield Hallam University. But what is it and could there be problems? Mass Spectrometry: analysing the ridges of the fingerprints Fingerprints on crime scenes, weapons and stolen property have been the undoing of many a criminal over the years. With evidence being corroborated...Read More
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Kidnapping of Chloe Ayling; guilt or innocence is irrelevant in extradition proceedings
A high-profile extradition was ordered on 29 September 2017 by District Judge Goldspring. Mr Michal Herba’s extradition is sought by Italy for the alleged kidnapping of Chloe Ayling. His lawyers argued that the details of the warrant were deficient, extradition would be in breach of his human rights and that it would be an abuse of process. Case of publicity stunt? The arguments against...Read More
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Gun control – US gun laws; who pays the price?
The mass murder in Las Vegas on Sunday has brought the issue of gun control to the forefront of public debate once again. The right to bear arms is a fiercely protected right in the USA but would a tightening of controls prevent such tragedies? In the UK prohibitions on certain types of weapon have been in existence alongside the weapons themselves from as early as 1594; Queen Elizabeth I...Read More
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DNA evidence as a reasonable doubt?
An article in the Guardian on 2nd October has highlighted some of the problems surrounding DNA evidence. Since it was first used to secure a conviction in 1986, DNA evidence has developed something of an unshakeable aura about it. It is common to hear in court ‘there is DNA evidence’ as if that somehow proves guilt beyond any doubt, let alone beyond a reasonable doubt. Whilst science has...Read More
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