Criminal Justice Act 1988

9 Order for return to requesting state

(1) Where a person is committed under section 6 above and is not discharged by order of the High Court or the High Court of Justiciary, the Secretary of State may by warrant order him to be returned to the state by which the extradition request was made unless his return is prohibited, or prohibited for the time being, by this Part of this Act, or the Secretary of State decides under this section to make no such order in his case.

(2) The Secretary of State shall give the person to whom an order under subsection (1) above would relate notice in writing that he is contemplating making such an order.

(3) The person to whom such an order would relate shall have a right to make representations, at any time before the expiration of the period of 15 days commencing with the date on which the notice is given, as to why he should not be returned to the foreign state, and unless he waives that right, no such order shall be made in relation to him before the end of that period.

(4) A notice under subsection (2) above shall explain in ordinary language the right conferred by subsection (3) above.

(5) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to consider any representations made in the exercise of that right.

(6) Unless the person to whom it relates waives the right conferred on him by subsection (7) below, he shall not be returned to the foreign state until the expiration of the period of 7 days commencing with the date on which the warrant is issued or such longer period as—

(a) in England and Wales, rules of court under section 84 of the [1981 c. 54.] Supreme Court Act 1981, or

(b) in Scotland, the High Court of Justiciary by Act of Adjournal

may provide.

(7) At any time within that period he may apply for leave to seek judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision to make the order.

(8) If he applies for judicial review, he may not be returned so long as the proceedings for judicial review are pending.

(9) Proceedings for judicial review shall be treated for the purposes of this section as pending (unless they are discontinued) until (disregarding any power of a court to grant leave to appeal out of time) there is no further possibility of an appeal.

(10) A warrant under this section—

(a) shall state in ordinary language that the Secretary of State has considered any representations made in the exercise of the right conferred by subsection (3) above; and

(b) shall explain in ordinary language the rights conferred by this section on a person whose return to a foreign state has been ordered under this section,

and a copy shall be given to the person to whom it relates as soon as the order for his return is made.

(11) Without prejudice to his general discretion as to the making of an order for the return of a person to a foreign state under this Part of this Act—

(a) the Secretary of State shall not make an order in the case of any person if it appears to the Secretary of State that—

(i) by reason of the trivial nature of the offence of which he is accused or was convicted; or

(ii) by reason of the passage of time since he is alleged to have committed it or to have become unlawfully at large, as the case may be; or

(iii) because the accusation against him is not made in good faith in the interests of justice,

it would, having regard to all the circumstances, be unjust or oppressive to return him; and

(b) the Secretary of State may decide not to make an order for the return of a person accused or convicted of an extradition crime constituted by conduct not punishable with death in Great Britain if that person could be or has been sentenced to death for that offence in the state by which the request for his return is made.

(12) An order for the return of a person to a foreign state under this Part of this Act shall not be made in the case of a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention, or is charged with an offence, in the United Kingdom—

(a) in the case of a person serving such a sentence, until the sentence has been served;

(b) in the case of a person charged with an offence, until the charge is disposed of or withdrawn or unless an order is made for it to lie on the file and, if it results in his serving a term of imprisonment or detention, until the sentence has been served.

(13) In the application of this section to Scotland, the reference in subsection (12) above to an order being made for the charge to lie on the file shall be construed as a reference to the diet being deserted pro loco et tempore.

(14) The Secretary of State may decide to make no order under this section for the return of a person committed in consequence of an extradition request if another extradition request has been made in respect of him and it appears to the Secretary of State, having regard to all the circumstances of the case and in particular—

(a) the relative seriousness of the offences in question;

(b) the date on which each such request was made; and

(c) the nationality or citizenship of the person concerned and his ordinary residence,

that preference should be given to that other request.