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<p>The Government believes the Arrest Warrant has greatly improved extradition relations
with Ireland, and has considered this matter extensively. <br><br>Between 1973 and
1999 eight people in total were extradited to the UK from Ireland for terrorism offences.
However, during this period the UK made 110 extradition requests to the Republic of
Ireland in relation to terrorist offences, meaning that less than 10% of UK requests
were successful during this period.<br><br>Since April 2010, one person has been surrendered
after being charged with a terrorist offence and two people have been surrendered
after being charged with terrorist-related offences. <br><br>Patrick Gordon was arrested
in Ireland in May 2013 and surrendered to the United Kingdom in May 2014. He is charged
with possessing documents containing information of a kind likely to be used by terrorists
- bomb making recipes to produce napalm type weapons.<br><br>Liam Rainey was surrendered
to the UK in 2011. He was convicted of kidnapping a well-known republican in Belfast.<br><br>Ryan
McKenna was arrested in Ireland in September 2013 and surrendered to the UK in February
2014. He is charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and possessing explosives.
Along with four individuals he is accused of trying to bomb a railway line using an
IED and a home-made mortar.<br><br>We are not aware of any UK requests to Ireland
for terrorist and terrorism-related offences being refused under the Arrest Warrant.<br><br>The
Government has also listened carefully to the views expressed by Irish and Northern
Irish Minister in this regard. In an article in the Irish Independent on 6 November
2014, Irish Justice Minister Francs Fitzgerald emphasised that the Arrest Warrant
had "greatly assisted our mutual efforts to fight cross-border crime and to bring
serious criminals, including terrorists, to justice". <br><br>The Irish Government
also made clear in a letter dated 4 September 2014 from the Justice Minister to the
Home Secretary, that if the UK failed to opt in to the package of the Arrest Warrant
by 1 December 2014, there would have been no guarantee that the courts would consider
their obligations under previously issued Arrest Warrants to be ongoing. This could
result in those being held in Irish prisons as a result of a UK issued Arrest Warrant
walking free.<br><br>Between April 2010 and March 2014, of the 537 people who were
surrendered to the United Kingdom from all Member States, 88 were surrendered from
Ireland. This represents 16% of all surrenders to the United Kingdom during this period,
and is the second highest overall surrender figure of all Member States. The following
table sets out the numbers surrendered in each financial year:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>
</p><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total Arrest Warrant
surrenders to the UK from all Member States</strong></p></td><td><p>130</p></td><td><p>144</p></td><td><p>123</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p><strong>537</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Arrest
Warrant surrenders from the Republic of Ireland to the UK</strong></p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>24</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p><strong>88</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The total of 88 surrenders includes:<br><br>• Four for murder;<br>•
Two for rape;<br>• 17 for child sex offences;<br>• One for kidnapping;<br>• Two for
armed robbery; and<br>• 11 for Grievous Bodily Harm<br><br>During this same period
the UK (excluding Scotland) surrendered 114 people to Ireland, including for offences
of murder, rape and child sex offences.<br><br>Although extradition to and from Ireland
was previously covered by the Backing of Warrants scheme, if the UK were not to rejoin
the Arrest Warrant it would rely on the 1957 European Convention on Extradition (ECE)
in its relations with Ireland and all other EU member states. The Arrest Warrant offers
the UK distinct advantages over the ECE. <br><br>Firstly, the process of extradition
under the Arrest Warrant is quicker and cheaper than under the ECE. It takes approximately
three months to surrender someone using an Arrest Warrant. However, it takes ten months
on average using the ECE. On average it costs £13,000 to extradite someone using the
EAW, and £62,000 using the ECE. This means that it would have cost the UK more than
£5.5million more to extradite the same number of people to Ireland between 2010 and
2013.<br><br>Secondly, under the ECE certain countries can refuse to extradite their
own nationals. This is not possible under the Arrest Warrant. <br><br>Thirdly, under
the ECE, extradition can also be refused due to the length of time that has passed
since the offence was committed. Again this is not possible under the Arrest Warrant.<br><br>Fourthly,
Article 3 of the ECE allows refusals for ‘political offences’. It would be possible
for terrorists to argue that their activities fell within the <br>scope of this ground
for refusal.</p><p> </p>
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