Extradition Proceedings By Lord Advocate Against Rm
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Sheriff T Welsh QC |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] SC EDIN 63 |
| Court | Sheriff Court |
| Date | 03 December 2021 |
| Docket Number | E43/20 |
| Published date | 08 December 2021 |
SHERIFFDOM OF LOTHIAN AND BORDERS AT EDINBURGH
[2021] SC EDIN 63
E43/20
JUDGMENT OF SHERIFF T WELSH QC
in Extradition Proceedings by
THE LORD ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
Pursuer
against
RM
Defender
Act: Jajdelski Adv; Crown Office, Edinburgh
Alt: Mackintosh QC; Livingston Brown, Glasgow
Edinburgh, 3 December 2021
The issue.
[1] The requested person, RM, is married with nine children. He has lived with his
family in Lanarkshire for 11 years. He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on 30 July 2020
on a European Arrest Warrant [EAW] issued by the District Court in Wrocław, Poland on
7 September 2016. The EAW was certified by the National Crime Agency on 15 September
2016. He is wanted by the requesting judicial authority in Poland to serve a 6 month
custodial sentence, for two mercantile frauds (total value 8044,21 PLN) committed on
27 December 2007. He was convicted in his absence on 26 September 2011.
[2] He opposes extradition in execution of the EAW on five grounds:
(i) The District Court in Wrocław is not a judicial authority for the purposes of
s2 of the Extradition Act 2003 [the Act].
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(ii) Extradition would be unjust or oppressive under s 14 of the Act, by reason of
the passage of time.
(iii) He was convicted in his absence with no possibility of a retrial contrary to
s 20 of the Act.
(iv) Extradition will be incompatible with article 6 of the European Convention on
Human Rights [ECHR]
(v) Extradition will be disproportionate and incompatible with Article 8 of the
ECHR and his own and his family’s right to a family life.
The facts.
Evidence of the requested person.
[3] RM (45) gave evidence. He is married to EM and they have 9 children. He married on
3 February 2001. He explained that for a time from 2007 until 2010 he operated his own
small business as a builder installing bathrooms in Wroclaw, in Lower Silesia, Poland. He
had a young family. His wife has never worked but always looked after the children. In
Poland, the family lived in a single room in an apartment. They had a shared external
bathroom and the kitchen was a cupboard in the corner of the room they lived in. He has
always worked. He said in early 2010 he got a job as a building site manager but the
contract ended and he was out of work. In Poland, he worked a 6-day week. He has two
elderly parents and a sister in Poland. He has a brother who lives in his own household in
Lanarkshire where he works. In 2010, his brother got work in Scotland and an opportunity
arose to join him here. RM arrived on 7 June 2010. He started working in a foundry in
Lanarkshire the following Monday and has worked there ever since. He is part of a 9-man
team smelting and moulding metal. He started on the foundry floor and is now a
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supervisor. He learned the job on site and operates the crane. He has little formal
education. He left school at 14 to get a job to help support his parents and family.
[4] He has a large family, the youngest 5 of whom, live with him. The second oldest boy
is abroad working in Sweden. Three older children live together in their own nearby local
authority tenancy. They support themselves. The youngest 5 dependent children, live with
their parents in a local authority rented 4 apartment house. They are all in full time
education. The 4 youngest children, are at school. All the children, except T. are settled
here. The tenancy is in joint names with his wife EM. The family comprises:
i P (27) who is a manager in an insurance company.
ii T (26) who worked in Glasgow for a bank but has now moved to Sweden,
where he works as a manager in a company producing parts for cars.
iii C (22) lives with P and R. She works in a soft drinks factory.
iv R (21) is an agency worker.
v S (18) is at college. She wants to be a teacher.
vi M (15) is at High School. He enjoys sports and wood sculpting.
vii D (13) is at High School. He wants to be a maths or physics teacher. He
enjoys sport.
viii K (7) is at Primary School. He enjoys writing short stories in English.
ix ER (6) is at the same school as K. She enjoys dancing.
The 4 oldest children are fluent in Polish and English. S is not fluent in Polish. M and D
understand Polish but cannot speak well or write in Polish. K and ER have no Polish. They
speak, read and write in English only. RM understands English better than he can speak it.
[5] RM explained how the family finances work. His income taken along with Child
Benefit [originally transferred from Poland to the UK] and Tax Credit amounts to
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