Queen’s Bench Divisional Court

Published May 15, 2007

Regina (Brown, formerly Bajinya, and Others) v Belmarsh Prison Governor and Others

Section 194(4)(b) of the Extradition Act 2003, which enabled the Secretary of State for the Home Department to modify the application of that Act where special extradition arrangements existed, permitted him to extend the 45 days specified in section 74(11) for the receipt by a judge of the request for extradition to 95 days.

The Queen’s Bench Divisional Court (Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones) so held on March 13, 2007, on applications for habeus corpus by Vincent Brown, formerly Bajinya, Emmanuel Nteziryayo, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Charles Munaneza.

The second respondent, the Republic of Rwanda, sought the extradition of the applicants in connection with alleged involvement in genocide and murder.

Under section 194 of the 2003 Act, the Home Secretary had certified that special arrangements applied to the applicants in respect of their extradition and that that Act would apply to the extraditions with the modification that the period required for delivery of requests for extradition under section 74(11) was 95 days instead of 45 days.

MR JUSTIVE LLOYD JONES said that on a literal reading of section 194(4)(b), the words were wide enough in their natural meaning to permit a modification of the regime applicable to special extradition arrangements by extending the period within which the delivery of the request for extradition to a judge took place.

The provisions of the section were neither ambiguous nor obscure and ther clear effect did not lead to absurdity.

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