James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This group covers a number of amendments dealing with administrative, technical and typographical matters.

Amendment No. 2 is a grammatical correction amending the word "who" to "whom".

Amendment No. 5 deletes the words "in that state" in section 10(d) of the 2003 Act. This amendment arises from a decision of the High Court in the case of the Minister for Justice and Equality v. Gustas in 2021, which was the subject of an Article 26 reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In that case, surrender was sought on foot of a European arrest warrant issued by Lithuania where Norway had originally imposed a criminal conviction and sentence.

The High Court ultimately held that the wording of section 10(d) did not cover a situation where the sentence was imposed in another state and transferred, so the court was obliged to refuse surrender. This was despite the fact the conviction was recognised by Lithuania on foot of a bilateral agreement with Norway. Such a limitation is not necessary from a policy perspective and the proposed amendment will remedy this.

Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 are consequential textual amendments arising from the deletion of the words "in that state" in section 10(d) of the 2003 Act.

In relation to amendments Nos. 8, 9, 15, 16, 18 and 19, section 21A of the 2003 Act is being repealed and so references to it, including references to the provision by which it was originally inserted, are being removed accordingly.

Amendments Nos. 10 and 21 clarify the application of sections 15(5)(a) and 16(5)(a) of the 2003 Act which each deal with situations where surrender does not take place due to force majeure. Specifically, these amendments clarify that an order further detaining the person is made on the agreement of a new surrender date.

Amendments Nos. 14 and 26 correct cross-references. Amendments Nos. 17 and 20 are administrative textual amendments reflecting the fact that Part 3 of the 2003 Act contains both mandatory grounds prohibiting surrender and discretionary grounds by which surrender may be refused by the High Court.

Amendment No. 22 corrects a typographical error.

Amendment No. 36 is a minor technical amendment to the transit provisions of the 2003 Act to clarify that they apply to a person when the extradition proceedings are ongoing.

Amendment No. 47 is a technical drafting amendment.

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