Part of Extradition Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:45 am on 14 January 2003.
Mr John Burnett
Liberal Democrat, Torridge and West Devon
9:45,
14 January 2003
Yes, we take a similar line. With regard to Amendment No. 123, the text of the European arrest warrant framework decision allows member states to guarantee that the subject of the warrant in such circumstances will have an opportunity to apply for a retrial.
Amendment No. 139 deals with trials in absentia. It would deem a person
''to have deliberately absented himself only if evidence has been provided that notice of the proceedings was personally served on that person.''
We—and Justice—believe it important to include a mechanism by which the judge can determine whether the person deliberately absented himself. In some European jurisdictions, residence can be deemed as that of a court-appointed lawyer, though the person may not even be aware of his existence. For a person to be deemed to have deliberately absented himself, evidence should be provided that notice was personally served on that person. In extra-territorial cases, the person should be subject to the process of ''obliging appearance''; and deliberate absence should not be established purely on the basis of a summons emanating from a foreign jurisdiction.
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