On 18 June 2024, Mr Justice Swift discharged Mr PS, an ethnic Serb from Croatia living in the UK since 1999, who was sought on a warrant from Croatia alleging his involvement in war crimes against the civilian population during the armed conflict in 1991. Mr PS was charged alongside other individuals, two of whom had already been extradited to Croatia from Ireland and Sweden.
The High Court found that the requesting judicial authority failed to account for the passage of time since 2005, but certainly since 2011, which it found culpable. The defence obtained and adduced decisive evidence from the Croatian court file, including a letter from 2011 which went unanswered for at least 7 years, and a document in which the Croatian authorities themselves noted the significant passage of time. The evidence directly contradicted statements made by the judicial authority at first instance.
The court also found that although the alleged war crimes offences were serious, the facts revealed the requested person held no position of command or authority, was only 19 at the time and that the lack of attention given to the case by the Croatian authorities reduced the public interest in extradition. After considering the extent of the family and personal life of the requested person in the UK, the court held that extradition to face war crimes charges would be a disproportionate interference with Article 8 ECHR.
Mr PS was represented by Ben Joyes and Tihomir Mak of Chambers’ extradition and international team. Ben and Tihomir were instructed by James Chaplin of Hollingsworth Edwards.
The judgment can be viewed here
