Sipavicius v Siaullai Regional Court Lithuania

In an extradition appeal, the appellant’s private life must be sufficiently substantial to outweigh the public interest in extradition. A person who has committed a serious offence, breached the conditions of a suspended sentence and thereafter committed further offences in the United Kingdom will face a strong extradition interest. Where the appellant has no significant private life capable of outweighing that interest, the appeal should be dismissed.

The appellant had been convicted in Lithuania of a serious assault committed on 12 September 2010. His suspended sentence of 18 months was activated after he failed to comply with its conditions. He subsequently came to the United Kingdom as a fugitive and committed further offences here.

At the hearing, his counsel applied to come off the record. The application was refused, and counsel accepted that no proper arguments could be advanced. The central issue was whether the appellant’s private life in the United Kingdom outweighed the interests of extradition.

1. Appeal dismissed.
2. The appellant had committed a quite serious assault and had failed to comply with the conditions of his suspended sentence, resulting in activation of an 18-month sentence.
3. His subsequent arrival in the United Kingdom was effectively as a fugitive, because he knew that he was in breach of the terms of the suspended sentence. He had also committed a number of offences in the United Kingdom.
4. The appellant had no significant private life, and in any event none sufficient to outweigh the interests of extradition.
5. The application by counsel to come off the record was refused. Counsel had rightly concluded that there were no arguments that could properly be advanced.

The judgment records the matter as an appeal concerning extradition. No lower-court citation or further appellate history is stated in the judgment.