Harjette v Central Investigating Court Number 2 Madrid Spain
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE COLLINS
Areas of Law
- Extradition Law
- Human Rights Law
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The appellant's appeal under section 26 of the Extradition Act 2003 was allowed, blocking his extradition to Spain for fraud charges due to his terminal prostate cancer and the potential lack of adequate treatment in Spain. The decision considered the human rights implications under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and deemed the extradition as oppressive and disproportionate.
J U D G M E N T
MR JUSTICE COLLINS: This is an appeal under section 26 of the Extradition Act 2003 against the decision of District Judge Blake given on 3 October 2014 directing that the appellant be extradited to Spain to stand trial for a number of offences of fraud.
He was involved with some 14 other defendants in substantial fraud emanating from Nigeria. It is not necessary to go into the details. Suffice it to say that there has been produced from the Spanish authority a very substantial judgment given in September 2014 which sets out the convictions and the basis I assume of the convictions of those who were in Spain and the sentences that were imposed upon them. Albeit the appellant has made a statement in which he denies that he was guilty of any offending, if convicted he would receive, judging by the sentences imposed upon the other defendants and the indication of the involvement of each in the frauds, of something, as Mr Irwin suggests, between 2 and 3 years' imprisonment. Certainly, if convicted, a prison sentence is a virtual certainty having regard to what was imposed on the others, and for a relatively substantial period, albeit of course the Spanish court would no doubt have regard to any mitigating factors, and the mitigating factors which would be highly material relate to the appellant's physical health.
He was diagnosed, as it is said accidentally, in the sense that it was picked up when he was seeking medical advice for another matter, with prostate cancer. Sadly, that cancer had spread from the prostate and now is affecting his lungs and bones. The treatment which he is undergoing in this country is at best palliative. The condition is terminal and there is no issue as to that. It is very difficult to give any prognosis as to how long he may have having regard to such treatment as is available. What he has been having is hormonal treatment. This is within a trial known as STAMPEDE.
It is far from clear to me precisely what he does within that trial or whether he receives any treatment which is peculiar to that trial. Judging by the information in the doctors' reports that I have seen it would appear that the hormonal treatment is treatment that he would in any event be receiving independently of the STAMPEDE trial. The point is that the STAMPEDE trial is not available in Spain. But it would seem, although it is not entirely clear, that the hormonal treatment may be available. I say may be because regrettably the Spanish authority