EDM NUMBER 905: LORRAIN OSMAN (NO.2)
Speaking Note
The motion is misconceived. Mr Osman's lengthy detention in
the UK is due to the very extensive use of the appeals
procedure which he has chosen to make in order to resist
extradition.
Background
(Please see the background note to motion No.901). In his judgment on Osman's sixth habeas corpus application, in November 1991, Lord Justice Woolf said:
"There is no doubt it is deeply disturbing that after this period of time, after Mr Osman has been in custody in prison in this country for far too long, it should still be uncertain whether he is to be returned to Hong Kong. However, when you look at the history (....) it appears to me that this is a situation that Mr Osman has brought upon himself by his own actions, as the result of a deliberate course of conduct upon which he has embarked, designed to use the machinery of this Court and other courts as a way of preventing his return to Hong Kong.
It appears to me that this is a situation where he has embarked upon a war of attrition designed to wear down the Hong Kong Government, so as to prevent his return. I have no doubt whatsoever that when the present application is considered in the context of the previous applications, it is indeed an abuse of process of the Court. It is using the machinery of the Court for purposes for which it should not be used.
In his judgment of 20 November on the ninth habeas corpus application, Lord Justice Kennedy said:
"Without there being exceptional circumstances, proceedings have been initiated after a warrant has been signed, and once again the object, as it seems to us, is not so much to obtain an order to which Mr Osman is arguably entitled, but rather to filibuster as he has done apparently in this and in other jurisdictions time and time again."
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