Dmitrijev v Lithuanian Judicial Authority

Permission to appeal in an extradition case should be refused where the proposed ground is not reasonably arguable. An Article 3 ECHR challenge cannot proceed where applicable Divisional Court authority has rejected the asserted risk and no viable point remains. A renewed application will fail where the applicant advances no further submissions capable of overcoming that authority.

The appellant challenged an order for his extradition to Lithuania made by District Judge Zani on 16 November 2018. His sole proposed ground concerned Article 3 of the ECHR and an alleged real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in Lithuanian custody.

Eady J refused permission on the papers on 16 March 2020. The application was renewed orally. The issue was whether any reasonably arguable Article 3 point remained after the Divisional Court’s decisions in Bartulis [2019] EWHC 3504 (Admin) and Gerulskis [2020] EWHC 1645 (Admin).

1. Permission refused. The court held that there was no reasonably arguable ground of appeal.
2. The proposed appeal concerned only whether imprisonment in Lithuania created a real risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 of the ECHR. The issue had already been considered in the Divisional Court’s judgment in Bartulis [2019] EWHC 3504 (Admin), which rejected the points on which the appellant also relied and led to refusal of certification of a point of law of general public importance.
3. The subsequent Divisional Court judgment in Gerulskis [2020] EWHC 1645 (Admin) rejected the contention that viable Article 3 points remained, having addressed the matters relied upon by the appellant. That judgment brought the present application to an end in practical terms.
4. The appellant’s solicitors confirmed that there would be no further submissions at the renewed hearing in light of Gerulskis. In those circumstances, and with no surviving legal argument capable of distinguishing or overcoming the applicable authority, permission to appeal was refused.

1. District Judge — extradition ordered on 16 November 2018.
2. High Court — Eady J refused permission to appeal on the papers on 16 March 2020.
3. High Court (Administrative Court) — the renewed application for permission to appeal was refused on 25 August 2020.