Opinion

Allison Morris: Extradition requests likely to be frustrated by Brexit

Former Parish Priest Patrick Ryan pictured in 1994.
Former Parish Priest Patrick Ryan pictured in 1994. Former Parish Priest Patrick Ryan pictured in 1994.

ANY future extradition request to bring former priest and self-confessed IRA operative Patrick Ryan from the Republic to Britain to stand trial will almost certainly be impacted by Brexit.

The UK is set to lose access to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) on October 31.

The British government and the Republic have already agreed that in the event of a no deal Brexit they will extradite by way of the 1957 Act, which was used prior to the introduction of the EAW.

However, Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin has previously said that this method will be more time consuming and will likely be "sub-optimal" compared to the present system.

Mr Martin also said: "We expect those arrangements will be tested within judicial system, as is people's right."

Patrick Ryan looks set to be the first person to test the 1957 Act in court, with calls this week for the British government to request extradition of the pensioner, now aged in his 90s, as a matter of priority.

That process is unlikely to commence until there is clarity about under which legislation the application will be made.

It could then be subject to a lengthy legal challenge to test the resilience of what was previously considered outdated legislation.

Between September 2018 and August 2019, the PSNI made 38 EAW applications - 26 to the Republic and 12 to other EU states including Poland, Lithuania, Romania.