Wrongly re-certified extradition warrant discharged afresh: no basis to proceed

An extradition request for a Polish woman, represented by Malcolm Hawkes, who had successfully appealed an order for her extradition in 2020, has been discharged on the grounds the warrant was s. 2 invalid.

In the light of an Interpol circulation, notwithstanding her successful 2020 appeal and discharge, the National Crime Agency re-certified the same warrant and re-arrested her. The NCA admitted to having erased all of their records relating to the previous proceedings and discharge. It was argued that had those records been retained, the NCA would not have treated this as a fresh request and would never have certified the same warrant twice, for to recertify a discharged warrant would amount to an abuse of the court’s process. 

Following oral submissions, District Judge Matson agreed that the warrant was void ab initio. She agreed with defence submissions that once disposed of by way of a successful appeal, the warrant could not be certified a second time and discharged the case.

In Poland v Makowska, Malcolm was instructed by Neil Allan of Tuckers Solicitors.