A “no-deal Brexit” does not amount to a “point of law of exceptional public importance” that would require determination by the superior courts in extradition cases, a High Court judge has said.
Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly made the comments in refusing former Republican paramilitary Declan “Whacker” Duffy’s application leave to appeal his extradition to Northern Ireland.
Ms Donnelly said on Tuesday that this was not a case of “exceptional public importance” and that for this reason, she could not grant Duffy an application for appeal.
Duffy (44), with a last address at Hannover Street West in Dublin, had been serving a term of life imprisonment for the murder of British army sergeant Michael Newman in Derby City in 1992 when he was released on licence by a Northern Irish parole board in March 2013.
However, Mr Duffy was arrested by gardaí on December 5th, 2015 and was last year jailed by the Special Criminal Court for six years for falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne in Rathcoole/Saggart, Co Dublin on June 9th, 2015.
On June 6th, 2016, the Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland revoked Mr Duffy’s licence and recalled him to prison. A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued for his arrest.
Ms Justice Donnelly made her decision to extradite Duffy on the grounds that there was “not a shred of evidence” to back up arguments made by Duffy’s defence team regarding Brexit and the Good Friday agreement.
Duffy’s barrister Anthony Hanrahan BL had previously argued that his client had already served “what was deemed by the sentence review commissioner to be an appropriate sentence” and that sending him back to serve the full sentence would be a “double punishment”.
Mr Hanrahan today reiterated his arguments regarding Duffy’s extradition.
He stated that there is “political uncertainty surrounding Brexit” and that this means “there is a risk of the system being undermined”.
The fact that Duffy’s “surrender would be in June 2020 is very relevant” and will push him “well into the post-Brexit period” Mr Hanrahan told the court.
Mr Hanrahan also told the court that Duffy’s case is one of “public interest” as there are “many different aspects of the Good Friday agreement and if some of them were taken away post-Brexit, this case would be very important.”
Responding to arguments made by Duffy’s legal team, counsel for the Minister for Justice, Ronan Kennedy BL told the court, “The arguments being put forward were completely speculative”.
Mr Kennedy said it is “hard to see how any other view could be reached based on the information put before the court”.
He told the court this case is not one of public interest and that points put forward by Duffy’s legal team do not “transcend the facts of this case”.
Regarding her decision to not grant Duffy an application for appeal, Ms Justice Donnelly stated that his legal team had “sought to take advantage of the Brexit situation” and that they provided no evidence to show Brexit is a risk to the Good Friday agreement.
Ms Justice Donnelly said their arguments were “theoretical and not based on facts and evidence.”
“A no-deal Brexit does not amount to a point of law of exceptional public importance,” Ms Justice Donnelly said.