Clause 193 - National security

Part of Extradition Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:45 am on 21 January 2003.

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Photo of Bob Ainsworth Bob Ainsworth The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 10:45, 21 January 2003

A sobering input from the moderate wing of the Liberal Democrats has brought us back to some issues of real import. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for tabling the new clauses in order to have a wider debate. I shall deal with them in turn before making some more general observations and dealing with clause 193. We are not having a separate stand part debate, and important issues are at stake.

I do not understand why new clause 6 should be added to the Bill. How does an unconscionable delay differ from a bar to extradition by reason of the passage of time? The provision already exists in clause 81 in part 2, and we debated the bar on 9 January when we considered new clause 1. I agreed to consider whether it would be appropriate to mirror the part 2 provisions in part 1. As I said, I see no difference, other than in language, between an unconscionable delay and a bar to extradition based on the passage of time.