Piotr Pawel Skiba loses appeal over extradition to Poland

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Piotr Pawel Skiba lost his extradition appeal in the Supreme Court on 5 December 2018. Mr. Justice William M. McKechnie delivered the judgment.

Poland sought his extradition to serve two prison sentences for offences committed there. The High Court ordered his surrender on 1 December 2016, with departure by commercial airline scheduled for 22 December 2016.

On 12 December 2016, his solicitors informed the Garda Extradition Unit that he had a fear of flying. The judgment said this was the extent of the information conveyed. Irish authorities subsequently sought alternative travel arrangements, but ultimately proceeded with the original plan.

At Dublin Airport’s departure gate on 22 December 2016, Skiba refused to board. When it became apparent that boarding would require more than minimal force, the captain refused to allow him aboard.

The following day, the Minister for Justice and Equality applied to the High Court for a new surrender date. Humphreys J. fixed 5 January 2017. The Court of Appeal dismissed Skiba’s appeal on 12 January 2017. He was surrendered to Poland on 14 January 2017.

The central issue in his Supreme Court appeal was whether the advance warning made his refusal foreseeable. If it did, the High Court should have discharged him rather than fixed another surrender date.

McKechnie J. accepted that foreseeability could be argued both ways, but concluded on balance that the resistance was not reasonably foreseeable. He also found that its consequences could not have been avoided despite all due care. The High Court was entitled to fix another date, although its interpretation of force majeure did not accord with the subsequent EU ruling requiring consideration of foreseeability.