The Supreme Court has allowed the Attorney General’s appeal in an extradition case and remitted the dispute over three drug supply warrants to the High Court for a further inquiry into the relevant Irish law.
In a judgment delivered on 6 December 2004, Denham J said the High Court had refused rendition to the United Kingdom on three of seven warrants because the Attorney General had not put the relevant Irish regulations before it. The Supreme Court directed that the matter return to the next extradition list, where the Attorney General’s counsel should present the law and the High Court should determine whether the offences correspond to Irish offences.
The seven warrants, all dated 14 December 2001, concerned alleged drug offences. The appeal related only to warrants A, B and E, which charged supply of diamorphine. The High Court had granted orders on the other four warrants, covering possession and possession with intent to supply, and those warrants were not in issue on this appeal.
The High Court concluded that section 21(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 could not, by itself, establish a corresponding Irish offence for the supply charges. It said the Attorney General needed to show that regulations prohibiting or controlling supply had been made and remained in force. No regulations had been produced or formally proved there.
On appeal, counsel for the Attorney General referred the Supreme Court to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1988, including regulation 4(1)(b), while accepting that the regulations had not been put before the High Court. The respondent’s counsel maintained that the applicant bore the responsibility to establish the relevant Irish offence and had not sought to provide the regulations when the issue arose.
Denham J said the extradition hearing was an inquiry under the Extradition Act, rather than a criminal trial. The applicant had to present the documents and relevant Irish law; the judge also had a duty to make relevant inquiries, including about the applicable Irish law. She found that the High Court had not considered the regulations and that the appropriate next step in this case was to remit the matter for that consideration.
The Supreme Court did not determine whether the three supply charges corresponded to Irish offences or order rendition on those warrants. It allowed the appeal and sent the issue back to the High Court for determination.