News
Friday, April 02, 2010
Pakistan-UK extradition treaty delayed
By Iqbal Choudhry
ISLAMABAD: An extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK hangs in the air, as the clause of capital punishment remains the main hurdle in signing the treaty, sources told Daily Times on Thursday.
According to the sources, a joint judicial working group of both countries will hold talks to finalise the accord in the next few months.
The British side had expressed reservations over the chapter of capital punishment in Pakistani law, which does not exist in international law and demanded it be slashed out before the treaty is signed. However, the Pakistani side disagreed and wished to sign the treaty according to local laws.
Several meetings were held between the two countries after which a decision was made to constitute the joint judicial group to step up bilateral ties. However, the group failed to resolve UK’s reservations, but is going to meet soon to make a final decision.
Pakistan and the UK are both signatories to the UN Terrorist Bombing Convention, which binds them to prosecute or extradite bombing suspects. However, this treaty would be the first extradition agreement between the two countries and would broaden the scope of extraditable offences.
Pakistan has signed such a treaty with several countries, including China.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk