On 20th August 2024, a posting on Twitter reference German news article regarding a rejected extradition to the UK due ‘ the terrible conditions in UK prisons, including chronic overcrowding, staff shortages, violence, the small size of Victorian cells, and a lack of fresh air’
Editor’s Note: This article is include and these are the very inhumane conditions that Assange suffers.
A summary of the court decision from Lawyers Office Hegarhaus
DECISION OF THE KARLSRUHE HIGHER REGIONAL COURT OF MARCH 10, 2023, AZ. 301 OAUS 1/23: NO EXTRADITION TO GREAT BRITAIN DUE TO POOR PRISON CONDITIONS (LTO, AUGUST 14, 2023 BY DR. CHRISTIAN RATH)
We refer to LTO’s report of August 14, 2023 on proceedings before the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court, which, by decision of March 10, 2023 (Az. 301 OAus 1/23), ordered the extradition of a persecuted person to the United Kingdom due to the prison conditions there than currently deemed inadmissible:
“No extradition because of inhumane circumstances in the prisons of the target country – this is not uncommon for courts to decide. A decision by the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court shows that this can also apply to Great Britain.
So Christian Rath in LTO.
The fact that extradition fails because the prison conditions in the destination country are inhumane is nothing new. But normally one thinks here of countries in distant parts of the world or of EU countries such as Bulgaria and Romania.
At the beginning of the year, however, the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court (OLG) classified the extradition of an Albanian to Great Britain as “currently inadmissible” – because of the prison conditions there (decision of March 10, 2023, file no.: 301 OAus 1/23). Jan-Carl Janssen , the Freiburg lawyer who fought for the decision, assumes that it is the first such decision in Germany.
(…)”
The full text of the article is available here .
EUCRIM NEWS
For English please also check EUCRIM, 7 August 2023 by Thomas Wahl: ” German Court Denies Extradition to UK Because of Bad Detentions “:
“On 10 March 2023, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe (Germany) declared extradition of a person from Germany to the UK as “currently inadmissible” due to the lack of guarantees for the person’s protection of fundamental rights. The decision in an unofficial English translation can be found here.
The requested person’s defense council Dr. Jan-Carl Janssen put forward objections against extradition with regard to the prison conditions in the UK and a possible violation of Art. 3 ECHR. By also referring to a 2021 CPT report, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe posed several specific questions to the UK authorities with regard to prison conditions to be expected of the prosecuted person after his extradition in the UK.”
If you have any questions, the specialist lawyers for criminal law Dr. Jan-Carl Janssen , Jan-Georg Wennekers and Jens Janssen .