Lords investigate access to legal advice, legal aid and the right to appeal extradition

• Parliament TV: Extradition Law
• House of Lords Committee on Extradition Law

The evidence sessions will start at 10:10am on Wednesday 29 October in Committee Room 2A of the House of Lords.

Witnesses

At 10.10am, the Committee will hear from district judges from the Westminster Magistrate’s Court where the majority of extradition cases are heard:

• Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle
• Deputy Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot
• District Judge John Zani

Following on, at 11.00am, the Committee will hear from two representatives from the Ministry of Justice:

• Hilda Massey, Deputy Director Legal Aid Policy
• Hugh Barratt, Director of Legal Aid Commissioning and Strategy

Areas of discussion

The Committee will ask the witnesses questions on issues including whether there is a problem with people receiving poor legal advice in extradition cases; if they agree that in extradition cases, legal aid should be automatically granted; and if the removal of the automatic right to appeal has removed an important safeguard against wrongful extradition. 

The Committee will also give the magistrates the opportunity to expand on their proposal, expressed in their written evidence that now would be “an appropriate time to investigate independently what has happened to those who have been extradited under the Extradition 2003 Act.”
Further information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Select Committees