Minister of Justice refuses extradition request for Presley Bingham to the US

The Minister of Justice, Senator Hon. Dorothy Lightbourne, has refused the request for the extradition of Presley Bingham to the United States. The Minister refused the request after hearing submissions from the attorneys representing Mr. Bingham and the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the United States government.

In making her decision, the Minister said she took into consideration several factors including the following:

Mr. Bingham was set free by the Court of Appeal on September 28, 2007 on a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf by his attorneys because he had not been extradited within the time prescribed by law. Article XI of the Extradition Treaty states that if a person is not extradited within the prescribed time, he may be discharged from custody and the requested state may subsequently refuse extradition for the same offence. Section 13 of the Extradition Act prescribes that where a person is not extradited within the stipulated time, he must be discharged by the Court. In discharging Mr. Bingham, the Court of Appeal, in response to a question from the Director of Public Prosecutions representing the United States, said that the State should not even think of re-arresting Mr. Bingham for the same offence. While this pronouncement was not part of the written judgment because the issue was raised after the judgment had been delivered, it is significant, coming from the Court of Appeal which had just given full consideration to all the issues in the case. Mr. Bingham was arrested on July 12, 2009 on a renewed request by the United States for the same offence and based on the same indictment.

Minister Lightbourne considered that if a person could be extradited on a renewed request for the same offence, it would render the provision of Section 13 of the Extradition Act not valid. She also considered several legal authorities dealing with “unjust and oppressive” circumstances in extradition proceedings and considered that in the absence of any contributory factor on his part, Mr. Bingham’s extradition would be unjust and oppressive within the meaning of Section 11 (3) (b) of the Extradition Act.