TNAG-1129-FCO40-1408-Extradition-arrangements-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1982 — Page 19

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CODE 18.77

Mr Bedford

PPD

Please ab SB

Reference.........

GNX 384/1/4π

2413

HKG 384/1

جندل

NATIONALITY AND TREATY DEPARTMENT: RESEARCH ASSISTANCE

REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY

1. Under the auspices of Commonwealth Law Ministers, who meet every three years, the 1966 Commonwealth Fugitive Offenders Scheme has recently come under review. The Commonwealth Secretariat has proposed a meeting of officials in London in November to consider possible amendments to the Scheme. Among the supporting documentation for this meeting is a Survey of extradition and fugitive offenders legislation in the UK Dependent Territories. The Survey, which records progress with implementing the 1966 Scheme in the DTS, was originally prepared in 1977 by the Commonwealth Legal Advisory Service (CLAS). CLAS and the Commonwealth Secretariat have embarked on an attempt to up-date the Survey but have been unsuccessful and have asked the FCO to help. A copy of a letter from the Assistant Director of the Secretariat's Legal Division is attached.

2. The Survey covers 20 pages and requires reorganisation as well as updating. I enclose an outline of the task as we see it. We estimate that it would involve six weeks' continuous research, including reference to the (incomplete) records of dependent territories legislation in the Library to produce provisional entries for the 15 territories and a draft circular to Governors etc requesting them to complete the entries. After an interval a further period of about three weeks would be required to collate the replies and prepare the final entry for transmission to the Commonwealth Secretariat, who intend to go to press at the end of the Summer,

3. The task falls within the responsibilities of Legal Procedures Section of NTD but that Section is already overloaded and is unable to take on the task, nor is there spare capacity for this elsewhere in the Department. I have therefore asked POD for temporary reinforcement by a DS9 but have been advised that no spare staff are available. Mr Parker will be able to confirm whether a trawl he has subsequently been undertaking to see whether any Department could lend the services of a DS9 has been successful. The work needs to be set in hand by mid-April at the latest to meet the Secretariat's printing deadline.

4. I have considered whether we could decline to cooperate on grounds of lack of resources. Taking account of the fact that HMG is responsible for the application of the Scheme to its dependent territories I do not think it would be acceptable for us to say we are unable to inform the Commonwealth Secretariat of the extent of that application. Incidentally it is an omission on our part that we do not ourselves have up-to-date particulars

of the