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The Rt Hon Sir Scott Baker will lead an independent panel to conduct a review into the UK's extradition arrangements, the Home Office announced today.

Sir Scott Baker, who presided over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, will be joined by two independent lawyers with expertise in extradition matters; David Perry QC and Anand Doobay.

The review, announced by the Home Secretary on 8 September 2010, will look in detail at the following five key areas of extradition legislation:

* the breadth of Home Secretary discretion in an extradition case;
* the operation of the European Arrest Warrant, including the way in which its optional safeguards have been transposed into UK law;
* whether the forum bar to extradition should be commenced;
* whether the US-UK Extradition Treaty is unbalanced; and
* whether requesting states should be required to provide prima facie evidence.

Home Secretary Theresa May said:

"This Government is committed to reviewing our extradition arrangements to ensure they work both efficiently and in the interests of justice.

"I am pleased that Sir Scott Baker has agreed to undertake this important review and can draw on the expertise of David Perry QC and Anand Doobay."

The panel is expected to report back to the Government by late summer 2011.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Government committed to reviewing its extradition arrangements in the Coalition's 'Programme for Government' document published on 21 May. It stated: 'We will review the operation of the Extradition Act - and the US-UK Extradition Treaty - to make sure it is even-handed'.

2. The Rt Hon Sir Scott Baker was called to the Bar in 1961, and practised in a range of legal areas, including family finance cases and professional negligence. He became a Recorder in 1976 and was appointed as a High Court judge in 1988. In 1999, he presided over the trial of Great Western Trains following the Southall rail crash in 1997. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2002 and went on to preside over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana. He also sat regularly in the Divisional Court hearing appeals and judicial reviews in extradition cases. He also tried Jonathan Aitken in 1999.

3. David Perry QC is a leading barrister in the field of extradition who is regularly used by the Crown Prosecution Service. From 2001 to 2006 Mr Perry was Senior Treasury Counsel prosecuting in a range of high profile cases.

4. Anand Doobay is a partner at Peters & Peters and has a wealth of experience in the field of judicial co-operation. He has focused in recent years on representing the subjects of extradition requests to the UK with a particular expertise in Russian cases. He is a co-author of 'Jones and Doobay on Extradition' published by Sweet and Maxwell. Mr Doobay is a trustee of Fair Trials International.

5. For more information contact the Home Office press office on 020 7035 3535.
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Contacts:

Home Office Press Office
Phone: 020 7035 3535
NDS.HO@coi.gsi.gov.uk