The Extradition Act (2003) has been universally denounced by Liberty, by the American Civil Liberties Union and by the Coalition itself, as well as numerous eminent legal experts. It removes all safeguards and protections from UK citizens, exposing us to unjust, unwarranted and unsupported extradition requests, and as such is contrary to the interests of justice, civil liberties, human rights and public safety.
It also designates the USA, a country with the Death Penalty and a recent record of torture, as a Category 2 territory, which is scandalous. The application of this legisation by the USA thus far, in cases such as Ian Norris, Brian & Kerry Howes, Gary McKinnon and now Liz Prosser, to name but a few has been abusive in the extreme. This law is being used by the USA, in these and other cases, RETROSPECTIVELY to pursue ill, vulnerable, non-violent British citizens, without regard for their human rights, without providing evidence against them, and even when allegations are refuted by the facts.
In these and other caes, this legislation requires the courts and the government to represent US interests above those of justice, human rights, and the welfare of our own citizens. This cannot be right.
The legislation also requires our courts and judges to refer to unsubstantiated (and, as in the case of Gary McKinnon, disproved) allegations as 'facts', which seriously compromises the integrity of the judicial system, is grossly misleading to the public, and makes a mockery of the values enshrined in our legal system of the right to a fair trial, and 'innocent until proven guilty'.
The Extradition Act (2003) appears in practice to permit the violation of Article 7, since it is being used retrospectively by the USA with gay abandon, and with UK courts apparently, and shockingly complicit in this.
All this is a gross and pernicious assault on our civil liberties and our legal rights and protections and must be stopped.