Clause 105 - Transit of prisoners
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill
10:15 am

Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland, Labour)

I beg to move amendment 414, in clause 105, page 85, line 38, at end insert—

(a) The Secretary of State shall not exercise his powers under sections 6A, 6B and 6C of the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 unless he makes a declaration that any person transited under these sections is not at risk of execution, torture or persecution.

(b) A declaration must be in writing and be published in such a manner as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.’.

I am rather concerned by the clause. It looks innocent, but all members of the Committee will remember the alarming stories about the rendition of prisoners. I want to explore whether the clause would make rendition easier, which is why I have tabled the amendment. Again, this is a subject on which there is cross-party concern. The hon. Member for Chichester (Mr Tyrie) ran a very successful campaign; indeed, he has written a book about this serious problem.

As I understand it, the policy has been to seek to ratify and conclude bilateral agreements that allow for the transfer of prisoners without their consent, and progress has been slow. At the same time, the United Kingdom is a party to two multi-party agreements. We are signatories of the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons, and we also have the  Commonwealth scheme for the transfer of convicted offenders. In addition, we have ratified the additional protocols of the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons. Under that, there are 34 signatory countries to which prisoners can be transferred without their consent. That includes Libya, and the Commonwealth scheme includes countries that, sadly, do not have particularly good human rights records at the moment.

Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)

The hon. Lady has raised the issue of rendition. As I understand it, the people concerned had not been through a proper judicial process. The measure would apply only to those convicted and sentenced by a lawful court. I hope that helps.

Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland, Labour)

Yes. I understand those were people who had been picked up on the battlefield. I have discussed the matter with the organisation Justice, which agreed with my concern that it potentially sanctions UK involvement in rendition of those detained by foreign criminal courts or foreign laws.

Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)

That is not rendition.

Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland, Labour)

I am still concerned that we might find ourselves having people coming from a jurisdiction, when the jurisdiction itself and the way the person has been treated in the criminal courts may be of concern. That is one problem. They then turn up in this country and we parcel them off somewhere else without their consent. My concern is that, in the second place to which they are parcelled off, they could be subject to torture. I have worded the amendment as I have because I would like the Minister to explain, if my understanding is wrong, why it is wrong.

Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)

The purpose of the clause is to put in place powers to enable the United Kingdom to facilitate the transit of prisoners through its territory. Such prisoners will be transferring from another state to a third state where there is a treaty between those states for a prisoner to be repatriated. The prisoner will not have been prosecuted, convicted or sentenced in the UK. Transit arrangements would normally mean enabling a prisoner and escort to transfer from one aeroplane to another at one of our international airports.

We expect requests under this power to be few in number and only for the purpose of enforcing a sentence of imprisonment lawfully passed on a prisoner by an appropriate court in the sentencing state. In most cases the prisoner concerned will have given his consent to transfer and will be returning to his country of nationality, where he can serve his sentence close to his family and friends, aiding his rehabilitation back into society.

The amendment proposes an addition to clause 105 that would require Ministers to make a declaration that a prisoner subject to transit through the territory of the UK would not be at risk of execution, torture or persecution in the country to which they are being transferred, and to make arrangements for the publication of that declaration.

The Government’s position on the death penalty is unequivocal and any request for transit for the purpose of carrying out the death penalty would be refused. Transit is provided for in all our existing prisoner transfer arrangements. With the exception of the EU framework decision on prisoner transfer, where there is a requirement to facilitate transit, transit is discretionary, and Ministers are able to refuse any request, and they will of course do so, if they have any concerns about an individual transit request or a particular state to which the prisoner is being transferred.

In those circumstances, I do not believe that it is necessary or appropriate for Ministers to make a declaration as proposed. In addition, I have mentioned the EU prisoner transfer agreement, which requires us to facilitate transfer if requested. However under that agreement transit involves the transit of a prisoner only from one EU member state to another. Each member state is bound by the European convention on human rights and we would expect each state fully to honour its commitments and obligations.

The UK will have no jurisdiction to interfere in international agreements made between two separate states where they are transferring a prisoner in accordance with those arrangements. The UK will expect other countries to facilitate transfers of foreign national prisoners repatriated from the UK; it plays its part in doing the same for other states. Those are all prisoners who have been convicted and sentenced. A declaration such as that sought by the amendment may give a prisoner on arrival in the UK the right to challenge the UK’s decision to allow further transit. Furthermore, a Minister could not properly make such a declaration based on information given by the relevant state when, not being party to the arrangements or the prisoner’s views, the Minister would have no means of verifying such information.

I hope, in the light of that information and the rather limited circumstances in which and to whom the provision would apply, that the hon. Lady will withdraw her amendment.