Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of the Senator's amendment is to provide that both the Minister and, in certain circumstances, the High Court should refuse the request for surrender from a convention state which is a party to the agreement. The effect of the proposed amendment would be that the Minister and, at a later stage in the proceedings, the High Court would be required to refuse the request for surrender where the offence for which the person was sought was punishable by the death sentence in that country unless satisfactory assurances that the death penalty would not be carried out were received.

The wording in the Bill is based on the premise that it is important that where the death penalty may be an issue, the process should be stopped at the earliest possible stage before the matter has developed. The right to refuse surrender unless certain assurances are given should, therefore, be dealt with at the initial stage when the request for surrender is received by the Minister and before he or she certifies accordingly to the High Court in accordance with section 8. In this way, unnecessary court proceedings would be avoided.