mr president the arrest warrant hearings have very little in common with extradition hearings that preceded the two thousand and three act
even at the main hearing the court does not consider the evidence but only ten so-called legal bars to surrender
lack of evidence is no bar to extradition
even people accused of behaviour that is not an offence in the extraditing country can be surrendered under the european arrest warrant if the offence is one for which there is no requirement for dual criminality
whilst most of these are serious violent sexual or dishonesty offences the list also includes the nebulous thought-crime offences beloved in so many continental countries so that the arrested person could be sent for trial or rather automatic conviction to one of those wretched places
the fact that such warrants are issued for the purpose of prosecuting a person on the grounds of his political opinions ought to constitute a legal bar to surrender but i suspect that some political opinions would be less equal than others
we were sold the european arrest warrant on a promise that it would be used to send terrorists to justice but the miscarriages of justice in the case of garry mann deborah dark edmond arapi andrew symeou and many others had no terrorist elements at all
worst of all have been the cases of people being extradited for questioning without a charge having been made
we must reinstate the requirement that a court will extradite a person only when there is compelling evidence that a serious offence under the extraditing country's laws has been committed
