Key Proposals
Proposals: The grounds for refusing surrender under the Act should be expanded. New treaties should be able to create new grounds for refusal or expand the application of existing grounds, but no treaty should be able to limit or override any of the statutory grounds. Sole responsibility for considering most of the grounds should lie with the court. The Minister of Justice’s role should be limited to considering grounds that require governmental or diplomatic assurances.
Rationale: This will provide a clear point in the extradition process where matters of personal circumstances, human rights, and justice system issues in the requesting countries will be considered. Removing the double handling of consideration of some of the grounds for refusal will improve the efficiency of decision making. It will also indicate that the grounds for refusal are predominantly justiciable issues for consideration by the court based on evidence, rather than political or diplomatic issues for a Minister.
