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Prisoners: Deportation

Volume 467: debated on Monday 19 November 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to grant magistrates the power to deport foreign criminals. (163735)

I have been asked to reply.

Magistrates already have the power to recommend foreign nationals for deportation under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1971.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) with which countries the Government have concluded formal agreements for the return of foreign prisoners to serve a proportion of their sentence in their home country; (164809)

(2) what payments the Government have made to foreign countries for the transfer of foreign nationals imprisoned in the UK to serve the final part of their sentence in their home country.

The United Kingdom is a party to two multi-party prisoner transfer agreements, the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and the Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders. In addition, the United Kingdom has concluded a small number of bilateral prisoner transfer agreements. The following lists those countries and territories with which the United Kingdom has a prisoner transfer arrangement.

No payments have been made to foreign countries for the transfer of prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentence.

Countries and Territories with which the United Kingdom has a Prisoner Transfer Agreement

Albania

America

Andorra

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Armenia

Aruba

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Barbados

Belgium

Bermuda

Bolivia

Bosnia Herzegovina

Bouvet Island

Brazil

British Indian Ocean Territories

British Virgin Islands

Bulgaria

Canada

Cayman Islands

Chile

Cook Islands

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dutch Antilies

Ecuador

Egypt

Estonia

Falkland Islands

Faroe Islands

Finland

France

Georgia

Gibraltar

Germany

Greece

Grenada

Henderson, Ducie and Oeno

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Malawi

Malta

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova

Montserrat

Montenegro

Morocco

Netherlands

Nicaragua

Norway

Panama

Peru

Peter I Island

Pitcairn

Poland

Portugal

Queen Maud Land

Romania

Samoa

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sri Lanka

St. Helena and Dependencies

Sovereign Base Areas Cyprus

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Turkey

Uganda

Ukraine

Venezuela.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with which foreign states the UK has arrangements for the return of prisoners to their home country to complete their prison sentences; how many nationals of such countries are currently in UK prisons; and how many prisoners the Government expect to be returned as a result of the arrangements in place. (163779)

The countries and territories with which the United Kingdom has a prisoner transfer arrangement and the number of prisoners held in England and Wales from each of those countries are given in the following table.

In the Police and Justice Act 2006 the Government amended the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 to enable prisoners to be transferred without their consent where the relevant international agreement does not require it. Subject to the views of the other Governments concerned, the United Kingdom will, in the future, seek to negotiate prisoners transfer agreements which do not enable prisoner to prevent transfer by withholding their consent. However, each of the agreements listed below requires the consent of both states involved, as well as that of the prisoner concerned. As a consequence it is not possible to say how many prisoners will be transferred under these agreements in the future.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figure may not be accurate to that level.

The figures in the following table relate to England and Wales only.

Countries with which the United Kingdom has a prisoner transfer agreement and the number of prisoners from each of those countries held in prisons in England and Wales as at 30 September 2007

Number

Albania

122

Andorra

Anguilla

1

Antigua and Barbuda/Dutch Antilles1

10

Armenia

5

Aruba

Australia

19

Austria

11

Azerbaijan

3

Bahamas

5

Barbados

27

Belgium

32

Bermuda

4

Bolivia

4

Bosnia Herzegovina

5

Bouvet Island

Brazil

51

British Indian Ocean Territories

1

British Virgin Islands

Bulgaria

15

Canada

19

Cayman Islands

Chile

8

Cook Islands1

n/k

Costa Rica

3

Croatia

91

Cuba

Cyprus

38

Czech Republic

38

Denmark

4

Ecuador

8

Egypt

8

Estonia

16

Falkland Islands

Faroe Islands

Finland

3

France

104

Georgia

12

Gibraltar

2

Germany

105

Greece

14

Grenada

14

Henderson, Ducie and Oeno1

Hong Kong

5

Hungary

16

Iceland

1

India

204

Ireland

554

Israel

14

Italy

76

Japan

1

Korea

5

Latvia

37

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

131

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Malawi

9

Malta

5

Mauritius

13

Mexico

18

Moldova

21

Montserrat

10

Morocco

28

Netherlands

92

Nicaragua

Norway

5

Panama

3

Peru

3

Peter I Island1

Pitcairn

Poland

203

Portugal

148

Queen Maud Land1

Romania

76

Samoa

San Marino

1

Serbia/Montenegro2

56

Slovakia

12

Slovenia

5

Spain

57

Sri Lanka

86

St. Helena and Dependencies

Sovereign Base Areas Cyprus

Suriname

10

Sweden

7

Switzerland

6

Thailand

5

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

78

Turkey

150

Uganda

56

Ukraine1

n/k

United States of America

89

Venezuela

19

Other

8

1 We cannot separately identify all nationalities with which we have a prisoner transfer agreement. These are as follows:

Ukraine is included with Russia (We do not have a prisoner transfer agreement with Russia) Cook Islands are included with New Zealand (We do not have a prisoner transfer agreement with New Zealand).

Antigua and Barbuda are included with the Dutch Antilles. We have prisoner transfer agreements with both Antigua and Barbuda and the Dutch Antilles.

Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island are included in Other.

Henderson, Ducie and Oeno are included with Portugal. We have a prisoner transfer agreement with both the Islands and with Portugal.

2 Serbia and Montenegro are recorded together but since the separation on Montenegro from Serbia, Montenegro is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons in its own right.