Tiser v Governor of HMP Brixton & Anor

An application for habeas corpus challenging detention following extradition proceedings will be dismissed where the grounds relied upon were fully considered by the committing judge and no subsequent material undermines that decision. This includes challenges based on dual criminality, alleged discriminatory purpose or risk, authentication of the extradition request, triviality of the alleged offending and bad faith.

The applicant had been committed by Bow Street Magistrates’ Court to await the Secretary of State’s decision on an extradition request from the Czech Republic concerning alleged theft and use of stolen financial instruments. He applied for habeas corpus, raising five grounds: failure to satisfy dual criminality, racist motivation and prejudice on return, defective authentication, triviality of the offences and bad faith. He was unrepresented and had lost contact with his solicitors.

The central issue was whether any of those matters justified disturbing the committing judge’s decision.

1. Application dismissed. The applicant’s complaints had each been fully deployed before the District Judge and fully addressed in the District Judge’s judgment.
2. The Administrative Court identified no material development or other circumstance arising since that decision which gave reason to doubt its correctness. The court therefore found no basis for habeas corpus or for interfering with the extradition committal.
3. The five grounds advanced were rejected in their entirety: the alleged failure of dual criminality, the asserted racist purpose and risk of prejudice in the Czech Republic, the complaint about authentication by the Ministry of Justice, the alleged triviality of the conduct and the allegation that the request was made in bad faith.
4. Lord Justice Kennedy stated that he would dismiss the application. Mr Justice Royce agreed.

The judgment records that Bow Street Magistrates’ Court committed the applicant on 29 January 2003 to await the Secretary of State’s decision on the Czech Republic’s extradition request. The Administrative Court dismissed the subsequent habeas corpus application.