“firstly, he was not deliberately absent from his trial and there is no right to retrial under s. 20 of the Act and secondly, that extradition would not be compatible with his Article 8 rights under s. 21 of the Act.”
“In summary, the obligation on the English courts to construe domestic legislation consistently with Community law obligations is both broad and far-reaching. In particular: (a) It is not constrained by conventional rules of construction …; (b) It does not require ambiguity in the legislative language …; (c) It is not an exercise in semantics or linguistics …; (d) It permits departure from the strict and literal application of the words which the legislature has elected to use …; (e) It permits the implication of words necessary to comply with Community law obligations …; and (f) The precise form of the words to be implied does not matter … . .. The only constraints on the broad and far-reaching mature of the interpretative obligation are that: a) The meaning should “go with the grain of the legislation” and be “compatible with the underlying thrust of the legislation being construed.” … An interpretation should not be adopted which is inconsistent with a fundamental or cardinal feature of the legislation since this would cross the boundary between interpretation and amendment (…); and b) The exercise of the interpretative obligation cannot require the courts to make decision for which they are not equipped or give rise to important practical repercussions which the court is not equipped to evaluate. ….”
“10. [Counsel on behalf of the appellant] submits that the [appellant] is not a fugitive. In further oral submissions, [she] asks the court to consider the case of Cretu v Romania … and in particular paragraph 34 which shows that it is not sufficient for Box D of the EAW to simply state that the [appellant] was summoned. It does not state how he was notified. The [appellant] was 17 years old at the time and deliberate absence simply cannot be made out in the circumstances. She submits that s. 20 of the Act is engaged and the RP is not guaranteed a retrial.” and “[Counsel for the Respondent] submits that “the further information makes it clear the requested person pleaded guilty. Whilst not present for the judgment he personally collected the decision and did not appeal the decision. Further more, he served part of the sentence impose.” [He] therefore submits that the EAW is s. 20 compliant.”
“24. I find the argument put forward on behalf of the [appellant] under s. 20 of the Act to have little or no merit. I find so that I am sure that the [appellant] accepted his guilt, personally received details of the court’s decision and subsequently failed to appear at the correctional institution on12 February 2014 from which date he became a fugitive. If follows from this that I do not accept the evidence of the RP on the points relevant to this issue as truthful and the s. 20 argument must fail.”