Proskinas v Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania

For the purpose of Extradition Act 2003, section 8B, a person is “in custody” when detained pursuant to a sentence, but not merely because the person remains on licence after release. The relevant event is release from detention, whether on licence or otherwise. The court therefore need not adjourn extradition proceedings until the licence period expires.

The appellant had been ordered by the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court to be extradited to Lithuania under a European arrest warrant. He was serving the balance of an earlier United Kingdom sentence, but had been released on licence. The appeal under section 26 of the Extradition Act 2003 challenged the refusal to adjourn the extradition proceedings under section 8B until the licence period ended.

The central issue was whether a person released on licence remained “in custody” for the purposes of section 8B(1)(b).

1. The appeal was dismissed. The district judge had correctly concluded that section 8B of the Extradition Act 2003 did not apply to a person who had been released from detention and was merely on licence.

2. Section 8B(1)(b) applies where the person is in custody serving a sentence of imprisonment or another form of detention in the United Kingdom. The words “in custody” bear their ordinary meaning and do not include the period after release when the person remains subject to licence conditions.

3. Section 8B(2) confirms that construction. It permits an adjournment until the person is released from detention pursuant to the sentence, “whether on licence or otherwise”. The statutory focus is release from detention, rather than completion of the licence period. Otherwise, a person subject to a lifelong licence after release from a life sentence could not be extradited.

4. The court did not decide whether an appeal under section 26 was the appropriate means of challenging a refusal to adjourn under section 8B(2), because the statutory construction point was decisive.

1. High Court (Administrative Court): dismissed the appeal from the extradition order made by District Judge Snow at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

2. City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court: ordered extradition to Lithuania on 19 October 2012.