Extradition post-Brexit – Áine Kervick quoted in The Law Society Gazette

Áine Kervick, Associate in our Criminal Litigation team, has been quoted in The Law Society Gazette providing her thoughts on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and criminal justice co-operation. She comments that the UK's position in respect of post-Brexit extradition means there is now uncertainty, particularly around incoming requests, as a result of numerous Member States exercising a nationality bar.

Áine quoted:

Under the TCA, EU member states can now refuse to extradite their own nationals to the UK. Germany, Austria and Slovenia had already exercised the nationality bar during the transition period."

In March the Home Office confirmed that Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden had signalled an intention to refuse extradition, while Austria and the Czech Republic would only do so with a person's consent."

The full practical and political consequences of this are not yet clear but EU citizens may be incentivised to return to their home country after committing crimes in the UK. This is likely to affect bail requests and lead to a corresponding increase in the UK prison population."

This article first appeared in The Law Society Gazette on 21 June 2021 which you can read in full by clicking here.

Further information

For further information on the issues raised in this article, please contact a member of our criminal litigation team.

About the author

Áine Kervick is a Associate in our Criminal Litigation team. She has a particular interest in the international dimension of criminal cases and advises individuals in respect of extradition requests and INTERPOL Red Notices. She is also experienced in acting for individuals in internal investigations with a focus on legal professional privilege in criminal investigations and has written a number of articles on the subject.