Szumski v District Court In Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland

In an extradition appeal, an asserted medical condition will justify resisting extradition on human-rights grounds only where the high threshold for such a claim is met. The availability of medical care in the requesting state is relevant. A pending personal-injury claim in the United Kingdom does not ordinarily prevent extradition where the claimant can continue to instruct lawyers from abroad using modern communications.

The appellant appealed against District Judge Nicholas Evans’s decision of 24 October ordering his extradition to Poland. He had been convicted there of robbery involving an imitation firearm and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

At the hearing, counsel abandoned challenges based on prison conditions and conviction in the appellant’s absence. She sought an adjournment to investigate alleged medical problems arising from an injury sustained while the appellant was working as a street cleaner in England, and their implications for extradition. The issues were whether an adjournment was justified and whether the medical circumstances provided a basis for allowing the appeal.

1. The adjournment application was refused. Although counsel had been instructed at a late stage and wished to investigate the appellant’s alleged injury and proposed medical examination, the material before the court disclosed no proper basis for postponing the appeal.
2. The medical-condition challenge failed. The threshold for a human-rights claim based on medical conditions was very high. Even if the appellant suffered severe headaches and blurred vision as a result of his injury, he could obtain medical care in Poland.
3. The pending personal-injury proceedings did not prevent extradition. The appellant’s lawyers could pursue the claim on his instructions, which could be communicated from Poland by modern means.
4. The appeal was dismissed.

• High Court (Administrative Court): Appeal against the decision of District Judge Nicholas Evans on 24 October ordering extradition to Poland. The appeal was dismissed.