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Extradition trap OK

01 July 1994

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The House of Lords decided that it had no common law power to rule an extradition invalid for abuse of process when the fugitive had been tricked by the police. Norbert Schmidt was wanted by the German authorities for supplying and possessing cannabis. They tried to extradite him from Ireland in 1991, but the warrant was not in order. In 1992 a Metropolitan police officer tricked Mr Schmidt into meeting him in London and arrested him. He was detained pending extradition. Habeas corpus was refused. The House of Lords said that the Home Secretary could refuse to hand fugitives over but that the English courts' hands were tied. Even if it had the power, the police's behaviour was not so serious as to warrant interference.

Re Schmidt, Independent 30.6.94.

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