Police and Justice Bill — 11 Jul 2006 at 19:34
Lord Berkeley was absent
The United States had thus far failed to ratify the 2003 extradition treaty that was signed on 31st March 2003 by David Blunkett (while Home Secretary) and by John Ashcroft (while Attorney General of the United States). However, as Britain had passed the Extradition Act in November 2003, Britain now had extradition obligations towards the United States that were not reciprocated.
This amendment, therefore, was an attempt to wrest back some of these powers to maintain some principles of reciprocity. It can also be seen as a means to persuade the United States to ratify the treaty which would have made extradition proceedings largely reciprocal.
Charter barrister Ben Cooper writes in the London Advocate, Number 42, September 2007 that:
The Criminal Bar Association, in conjunction with Justice, Liberty and the CBI, lobbied Parliament in November 2006 to introduce a forum amendment to the Extradition Act. However, despite a Lords' majority in favour, the government resisted its introduction. The amendment would have permitted an independent judge to decide the appropriate forum for trial where a case could be tried in either the US or the UK. This would have helped the CPS out of the difficulty that they face in acting for the USA while simultaneously considering the merits of a domestic prosecution.
Party Summary
Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.
What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.
What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.Party | Majority (Content) | Minority (Not-Content) | Turnout |
Bishop | 2 | 0 | 8.0% |
Con | 113 (+1 tell) | 0 | 53.5% |
Crossbench | 24 | 2 | 14.1% |
Independent Labour | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Lab | 0 | 103 (+2 tell) | 48.6% |
LDem | 48 (+1 tell) | 0 | 62.0% |
Total: | 188 | 105 | 41.3% |
Rebel Voters - sorted by party
Lords for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible lord who could have voted in this division
Name | Party | Vote |
Baroness Howarth of Breckland | Crossbench | no |
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen | Crossbench | no |
Lord Trimble | Crossbench | no |