Vol. 426 No. 2
24 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Justice if she has satisfied herself that Irish nationals extradited to Britain are adequately protected in so far as the rule of specialty is concerned; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
As has been indicated to the House previously, there is an administrative agreement between the British and Irish Authorities applying the rule of specialty whereby, following a person's extradition to the United Kingdom, only the charges on foot of which the person has been extradited may, subject to very limited exceptions, be proceeded with. Overall, those arrangements have operated satisfactorily.
Section 3 of our Extradition (Amendment) Act, 1987 provides for the placing of the administrative arrangements on a statutory footing by enabling the Minister for Justice to make an order applying those provisions of Part II of the Extradition Act, 1965, relating to the rule of specialty, to the arrangements we operate under Part III of that Act with the United Kingdom.
To date no such order has been made because of the absence of reciprocal provisions in United Kingdom law. The matter has been the subject of discussions within the Anglo Irish Conference and I am pleased to be able to inform the House that the United Kingdom authorities have included provision in their Criminal Justice Bill, 1992 — which has not yet been enacted — in relation to specialty. The enactment of that legislation will enable orders to be made under both it and our 1987 Act and thereby give statutory effect to the rule of specialty in extradition arrangements between the two jurisdictions.
