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The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Enfield, North (Joan Ryan), in a not-very-distinguished passage of argument, tried to draw a distinction between two termsI forget whether they were identity and reciprocity, or symmetry and mutuality, or parity and equality. It was not at all obvious to me what she was trying to say, but it was perfectly obvious to everyone in the House who has listened to our arguments all afternoon that there will be no reciprocity in the treaty, even if and when the Senate finally ratifies it. The brute fact is that if the United States wants to extradite a person from this country to the United States, the American authorities need merely present information at Horseferry Road magistrates court.
Angela Watkinson (Upminster) (Con): My constituent, Mr. Crook, is subject to extradition proceedings and is awaiting trial in the United States, but he protests his innocence. He has already had to sell his home to raise bail money. He has lost his living in this countryhis job is gone. Does my hon. Friend agree that, under the treaty, such people are guilty until proved innocent?
Mr. Johnson: My hon. Friend is quite right. The key difference is that her constituent had absolutely no opportunity to contest the information provided by the US authorities, whereas, of course, if UK authorities want to extradite a suspect from America, they are obliged to lay evidence that may be contested by the defendant. That has been pointed out repeatedly by hon. Members on both sides of the House. That is a plain absence of reciprocity, and it is calling black white for the Government continually to assert otherwise.
Mr. Johnson: I see the hon. and learned Gentleman rise from his seat like a rocketing pheasant [Laughter.] Well, like a very slowly rocketing pheasant. I think that I can anticipate what he will say, but I will let him say it.
Mr. Marshall-Andrews: I have a brief query: is the hon. Gentleman saying that, in extradition proceedings in America, one has the right to cross-examine evidence?
Mr. Johnson: I am saying that when we require the extradition of someone from America, it is possible for the defendant or suspect to contest the evidence, or supply countervailing evidence in his defence, in court before he is extradited. That is the key. I see the hon. and learned Gentleman smirking with the look of a man who has been chastised on a point of law. That is the key difference between our jurisdiction and the American jurisdiction. It is a blatant asymmetry that is acknowledged by hon. Members on the Labour Benches and it should be remedied, because the result is that a great many more British citizens are extradited to America than American citizens are to the UK. The ratio is to the tune of 20:1.
Rob Marris: May I take the hon. Gentleman back a bit to the unfortunate situation of Mr. Crook? How would his situation be different if he were being extradited not from the United Kingdom to the United States, but from the UK to Albania, for example?
Mr. Johnson: In that case, Mr. Crook would have the protection of forum. He would have the protection provided for in the European convention on extradition, under which, if the alleged crime took place in the UKs jurisdiction, or partly in it, a person would have the protection of the fact that a judge can decide whether, in the interests of justice, he should be tried in the UK jurisdiction. That is how the evidentiary imbalance links with the problem on forum. We could sort out the problem by remedying the evidentiary imbalance, although the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) refuses to sort it out in that way, but above all we have to sort out the problem on forum.
Sarah Teather (Brent, East) (LD) rose
Mr. Johnson: I must press on, so I shall give way only briefly.
Sarah Teather:
Was the hon. Gentleman as anxious as I was about the Ministers hollow response, namely,
that the UK has received assurances from the US Government that our citizens will not be sent to Guantanamo Bay, especially given the practice of extraordinary rendition, which the Government have failed to condemn publicly?
Mr. Johnson: The Governments assurances on many of those questions have proved quite worthless.
I want to return to the central point about forum provision. I do not wish to revive the polemical arguments that were made in an earlier debate about my constituents and my hon. Friends constituents who are involved in banking. Aspersions have been cast on their innocence, but if a crime that counters UK interests is allegedly committed in the UK by UK nationals, it is a matter of simple justice that it should be tried in this country. All the other countries that have treaties with the US have either the evidentiary protection that I have discussed or the protection offered by a forum provision. The French and the Irish have such a provision. The French would not dream of extraditing one of their own nationals and the Irish insist that a judge decides whether it is in the interests of justice that the suspect be taken to the US.
In conclusion, there is a simple task before us. We should give effect to article 7 of the European convention and we should agree to the Lords amendments. I am delighted that the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews) agrees with at least one of them and I hope to see him in the Division Lobby. We have a chance to do something very simple of great benefit to our constituents. It would reassure the country that we are not poodling needlessly to the United States. It would show that we are not a banana republic that needs to contract out to America trials of complicated financial offences that are alleged to have been committed by UK subjects on UK soil against UK interests. That is contrary to justice and we have a chance to remedy it tonight.
Mr. Shepherd: It is clear in my own mind that if we are a democracy and if we hold justice high, it is appropriate that any of our constituents who are threatened with withdrawal from our jurisdiction should have a prima facie case brought against them. At the earliest possible stage, they should be able to try to avert the possibility that they will be taken beyond these shores to face judgment in a court elsewhere. I am absolutely sure about that because process and procedure are a key feature of justice. Many hon. Members represent individuals who have been rendered elsewhere or have suffered at Guantanamo, and such occurrences are not to be dismissed lightly. One does not dismiss lightly any citizen who is sought by the authorities of another country. Not all jurisdictions are equally fastidious as ours in ensuring the protection of peoples rights.
Not wishing to make a misjudgment, I make no condemnation of the American system, but the US constitution affirms something on which we used to insist. If a British citizen were sought by the authorities of another country a case had to be made in a British courtthat was the bottom line. The hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews), whom I respect, casually said that this is a small injustice in the greater scheme. It is notit is colossal to each one of
us who suffers an injury. Some of the people whom we represent are not articulate and do not have the resources that they need. When they are plucked from our jurisdiction to a distant land, they are frightened and afraid. Proceedings may not even be conducted in their own language.
The European arrest warrant is an unmitigated affront to our very principles and many Conservative Members opposed its introduction. Similarly, the measure is founded on a treaty which, according to the Court of Appeal, takes precedence over the Human Rights Act 1998, so there is no protection under that Act for the NatWest three who have been taken abroad. I urge the House to vote for the Lords amendments, which give us an opportunity to look at what was entered into by prerogative power, and thus has not received the scrutiny that it deserved, even through it strikes at things as important as liberty, freedom and justice.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): I call the Minister.
Joan Ryan: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. The hon. Lady should ask for the leave of the House.
Joan Ryan: May I seek the leave of the House to respond to our debate, Mr. Deputy Speaker?
We have had a useful debate. The right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) is correct that I have said that we have had this debate ad infinitum. However, I am happy to do so because, like other right hon. and hon. Members, the issues are of great importance so it is right to discuss them. I was struck by what my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) said about justice, and I concur with him. This is a matter of justice, not reciprocity, although as far as possible we have achieved reciprocity on reasonable suspicion and probable cause. He asked whether the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause was so great that it created an injustice. The answer is no. At the risk of repeating myself, we have achieved rough parity. My noble Friend Baroness Scotland, my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), now a Health Minister, and I never said that those things are identicalrough parity is what we have achieved.
May I say a word about forum provision, which has figured largely in our debate? The key issue is ensuring that offences are dealt with in the place where they can be prosecuted most effectively. The proposed procedures envisage early consultation in any case in which it appears to a prosecutor in one country that there is a serious possibility that a prosecutor in the other country may have an interest in prosecution. We are alive to concerns about the matter, but we reject the Lords amendment. However, I reassure right hon. and hon. Members that we will take a further look at the issue.
The proposed arrangements provide for a three-step approach to decisions on jurisdictionfirst, the early exchange of information between relevant jurisdictions; secondly, prosecutors consulting on those
cases and the most appropriate jurisdiction; and thirdly, provision for consultation and involvement. We will consider the issues that have been raised.
In the interests of justice, in the interests of victims of crime and in the interests of making the world a safer place, I urge hon. Members to support the Government and reject the Lords amendments.
Question put, That this House disagrees with the Lords in the said amendment:
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