text_body: --- DIVISION TITLE ---
  
  Police and Justice Bill - Repeals of amendments
  
  --- MOTION EFFECT ---
  
  
  
  The majority Ayes rejected Lords Amendment 81 (paragraph 81 <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/230/06230.43-48.html">here</a>), which amended Schedule 14 of the Police and Justice Bill:
  
  <blockquote>Page 134, line 3, at end insertâ
   	â(j) forum.â;</blockquote>
  
  Schedule 14 is <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldbills/104/06104.132-138.html#j391s">here</a>, and consists of amendments to the <a href="http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030041_en_1">Extradition Act 2003</a>, of which Section 11, Bars to extradition [to the US], said:
  
  <blockquote><p>11 Bars to extradition</p>
  
  <p>(1) If the judge is required to proceed under this section <p>he must decide whether the personâs extradition to the category 1 territory is barred by reason ofâ</p>
  
  <p>(a) the rule against double jeopardy;</p>
  
  <p>(b) extraneous considerations;</p>
  
  <p>(c) the passage of time;</p>
  
  <p>(d) the personâs age;</p>
  
  <p>(e) hostage-taking considerations;</p>
  
  <p>(f) speciality;</p>
  
  <p>(g) the personâs earlier extradition to the United Kingdom from another category 1 territory;</p>
  
  <p>(h) the personâs earlier extradition to the United Kingdom from a non-category 1 territory.</p>
  
  <p>(2) Sections 12 to 19 apply for the interpretation of subsection (1).</p>
  
  <p>(3) If the judge decides any of the questions in subsection (1) in the affirmative he must order the personâs discharge.</p>
  
  <p>(4) If the judge decides those questions in the negative and the person is alleged to be unlawfully at large after conviction of the extradition offence, the judge must proceed under section 20.</p>
  
  <p>(5) If the judge decides those questions in the negative and the person is accused of the commission of the extradition offence but is not alleged to be unlawfully at large after conviction of it, the judge must proceed under section 21.</p></blockquote>
  
  The amendment would have inserted â(j) forum.â after the insertion of item (i) here:
  
  <blockquote><p>Restriction on extradition following transfer from International Criminal Court</p>
  	
  <p>(1) In section 11 (bars to extradition)â</p>
  	
   <p> (a) after paragraph (h) of subsection (1) there is insertedâ</p>
  <p>â(i)   the personâs earlier transfer to the United Kingdom by the International Criminal Court.â;</p>
   <p>(b) in subsection (2), for âSections 12 to 19â there is substituted âSections 12 to 19Aâ.</p></blockquote>
  
  The effect of the vote is that "(j) forum" is not added to the list of bars from extradition.  This means there is no scope for an independent judge to rule on whether a defendant should be tried in the US or in Britain.  Charter barrister Ben Cooper writes in the <a href="http://www.charterchambers.com/CharterNews/1AB3EE4/Extradition_Law_Update.aspx">London Advocate, Number 42, September 2007</a> that:
  
  <blockquote>The Criminal Bar Association, in conjunction with Justice, Liberty and the CBI, lobbied Parliament in November 2006 to introduce a forum amendment to the Extradition Act. However, despite a Lords' majority in favour, the government resisted its introduction. The amendment would have permitted an independent judge to decide the appropriate forum for trial where a case could be tried in either the US or the UK. This would have helped the CPS out of the difficulty that they face in acting for the USA while simultaneously considering the merits of a domestic prosecution. It is hoped that the Brown government will revisit the issue while the 12-month sunrise clause (still capable of giving effect to the amendment) remains in place. This would put the UK in line with the rest of the world in allowing the courts to protect against oppressive extradition demands by the US. </blockquote>
  
  <p pid="b.1434.1/3"><i> The House divided:</i> Ayes 313, Noes 272.</p>
  
  
  
  
  
  --- COMMENTS AND NOTES ---
  
  (put thoughts and notes for other researchers here)
  