George Hepburne Scott reports on a sea-change in the approach to extraditions to France
- The Administrative Division of the High Court has ruled that there is a real risk that French Prison conditions amount to ‘inhuman or degrading treatment’ of prisoners.
On 12 July 2018, Singh LJ and Carr J handed down the much awaited judgment in Shumba and another v Public Prosecutor in Nanterre County Court, France and others [2018] EWHC 1762 (Admin), [2018] All ER (D) 79 (Jul) the first case in which conditions in French prisons which were criticised by the recent Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) report dated 7 April 2017, have been considered.
The practical impact of this judgment cannot be overstated. It represents a sea-change in the British Court’s approach to extraditions to France and may well complicate the post-Brexit EU-UK extradition negotiations.
In essence, under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a court may refuse to extradite a requested person if there is a real risk that their treatment in the prison of the receiving state
