The High Court has allowed Mr ZS’s appeal against the order for his extradition to Romania, finding the lower court erred in applying section 20 and assessing delay under Article 8. This marks the third time Mr ZS has defeated the same request for his extradition.
Romania had sought Mr ZS’s surrender to serve an aggregated sentence of 4 years and 9 months for eight offences. Mr ZS was previously discharged in April 2018 and April 2023 due to inadequate or missing prison assurances. The Romanian authority re-issued the request again in July 2023 and supplied adequate assurances. In April 2024, the lower court discharged Mr ZS for 6 offences under section 20(7), but ordered his extradition for two remaining traffic offences, for which Mr ZS was convicted in his presence to a suspended aggregated sentence of 2 years and 10 months, which was later activated.
On appeal, Mr ZS successfully argued that because the sentences for the two surviving offences had been modified on three occasions at later hearings, during which the court enjoyed a margin of discretion in setting the sentence and from which Mr ZS was not deliberately absent, given that there were no retrial rights, he ought to have been discharged for those offences as well. Mr ZS also persuaded the High Court that the decade long passage of time since the offending and the culpable delay caused by Romania’s failures to submit sufficient assurances in previous proceedings (which added 5 years to overall proceedings against him) significantly diminished the public interest in extradition.
Mr ZS was represented by Tihomir Mak of 9BR Chambers’ extradition and international team. Tihomir was instructed by Mr Sean Rilley, Mr Sebastian Roberts and Ms Lily Purchase of Lewis Nedas.
