United Arab Emirates

Mr. Davey
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the UK has had with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on extradition arrangements; what agreements are in place with the UAE; whether these are covered by the Extradition Act 2003; and if she will make a statement.

Joan Ryan
I have been asked to reply.

Before the bilateral extradition treaty between the UK and the UAE was signed on 6 December 2006, there were two formal treaty negotiation meetings between our two countries. There were also informal discussions between officials of both countries.

The treaty will come into force once both Governments have exchanged instruments of ratification and the UAE has been designated as a Category 2 territory under the Extradition Act 2003. Until this time, there are no general extradition relations between the UK and UAE. As I explained to the hon. Member in an answer I gave to a previous question on 12 December 2006, under section 193 of the Extradition Act 2003, the UK can have extradition relations with non-treaty partners who are party to international conventions that contain extradition provisions and to which the UK is also a party.

The UK is also able to process ad hoc extradition requests from non-treaty partners under section 194 of the 2003 Act.