The High Court has adjourned the remaining part of a hearing on whether Michael Fallon, also named as Michéal Ó Fallúin, should be surrendered to the United Kingdom under a European arrest warrant. The court will allow both sides to obtain further evidence about English law and compliance with the rules governing the warrant’s issue.
In a judgment delivered on 9 September 2005, Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan ruled on issues argued during a hearing on 5 and 6 September. She found that the court was required to inquire whether the UK warrant, issued on 21 June 2004, had been “duly issued”. She did not decide whether it was valid or whether Fallon should be surrendered. The balance of the hearing was adjourned, with the judge to hear submissions on timing and any further directions.
The respondent’s case included an argument that the European warrant relied on a UK arrest warrant issued on 16 December 2003. He had been arrested in Ireland under that earlier warrant on 8 January 2004. His barrister, Peter Cauldwell, gave evidence that under English law the earlier warrant was spent once executed and could not support the later European warrant. That was evidence before the court, not a finding by the judge.
The Minister opposed an inquiry into the validity of the warrants. The judge rejected that position, reasoning that the Irish legislation required the court to be satisfied the European warrant was duly issued and that surrender would not breach constitutional protections for liberty. She said the evidence raised an issue requiring inquiry. She directed that further evidence could address English law and compliance with the EU Framework Decision, preferably on agreed facts about what had happened in Ireland in connection with the 2003 warrant.
The judge rejected two other objections at this stage. She found that the Central Authority had complied with the requirement to apply for endorsement of the European warrant “as soon as may be”, despite the delay between its receipt in June 2004 and the application in June 2005. She also found that section 42 did not prevent surrender: an affidavit exhibited a letter stating that the Director of Public Prosecutions was not considering proceedings against Fallon, and that information was not challenged.
The ruling followed earlier proceedings. The 2003 warrant had initially been pursued under the Extradition Act 1965, but the application was withdrawn and Fallon discharged in June 2004 after a Supreme Court decision concerning another person’s warrant. Fallon was arrested under the European warrant on 6 July 2005 and remained in custody at Cloverhill Prison at the time of this judgment. He had not consented to surrender.