The High Court ordered Robert Aaron Anderson’s surrender to Scotland on three charges: two of driving while disqualified and one of failing to appear in court. Mr Justice Michael Peart made the order under section 16(1) of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 after rejecting the respondent’s objections.
The Scottish warrant alleged that Anderson drove while disqualified on two occasions, in April 2002 and April 2003. It also alleged that, after being granted bail, he failed to attend court for a trial diet on 29 April 2003. The judgment records that warrants were issued following the non-appearance. These are allegations in the surrender proceedings; the High Court did not determine guilt on the underlying charges.
Anderson objected that the alleged conduct did not correspond to offences under Irish law and that delay in seeking his surrender meant he should not be surrendered. On correspondence, the court found that driving while disqualified would amount to driving without an effective licence under section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1961. It also found that the alleged failure to attend court, if proved, would correspond to the Irish offence of failing to appear in accordance with bail recognizance under section 13 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. The court said a reasonable excuse could be a defence to that Irish offence.
On delay, the judgment said Scottish authorities learned of Anderson’s Irish residence on 24 August 2004 and the European arrest warrant issued on 21 December 2005. The court accepted that it could consider whether delay would breach constitutional rights, but held that the delay in this case was not excessive or unreasonable and that no relevant prejudice had been established. Anderson’s claim that he had settled into the local community did not change that conclusion. The judge said his asserted lack of awareness of the proceedings was a matter for his defence to the failure-to-appear charge.
After considering the statutory conditions, the court was satisfied that Anderson was the person named in the warrant, that it had been endorsed as required and that no statutory bar to surrender applied. It ordered his surrender to an authorised recipient in the issuing state. The order concerned surrender; it was not a finding of guilt on the Scottish charges.