PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — In a dramatic authorized flip that would reshape one among world soccer’s longest-running corruption sagas, a Excessive Court docket choose in Trinidad and Tobago dominated on Tuesday that the extradition proceedings in opposition to former FIFA vice chairman Jack Warner have been basically “flawed,” halting the US’ try to convey him earlier than its courts on a raft of fraud-related costs.
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Justice Karen Reid, delivering her determination within the Port of Spain Excessive Court docket, emphasised that whereas courts are typically reluctant to intrude with felony proceedings, the legislation imposes strict obligations on how residents are to be surrendered to overseas jurisdictions.
“Ordinarily, civil courts are gradual to make any determination, the impact of which is to thwart the conduct of felony prosecutions, as the general public curiosity is normally finest served by having these prosecutions decided on their deserves,” Justice Reid said.
“In relation to the handing over of residents for extraterritorial prosecution, the Extradition Act gives a way by which that is to be executed, and the protections which might be required to be put in place for the safety of our residents.”
Longtime FIFA powerbroker going through 29 costs
Warner, 81, as soon as among the many most influential figures in world soccer, faces 29 costs in the US, together with fraud, racketeering, and unlawful wire transfers allegedly dedicated between 1990 and 2011 throughout a number of jurisdictions — together with the U.S., Trinidad and Tobago, and different international locations.
He was arrested in 2015 on a provisional warrant following an American extradition request, and later launched on TT$2.5 million bail. Warner was amongst a number of senior FIFA officers indicted that yr after a sweeping corruption investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Division of Justice into alleged decades-long bribery and kickback schemes.
“Specialty precept” on the coronary heart of authorized battle
Central to the case was the “specialty precept,” a cornerstone of extradition legislation that ensures people can solely be prosecuted for the particular offences listed in an extradition request. Justice Reid underscored that this authorized safeguard is prime to defending residents’ rights as soon as they’re surrendered to a different state.
“A couple of issues have change into apparent,” she famous in her ruling. “It’s not in dispute that the one association current between the requesting state and Trinidad and Tobago is the treaty.”
The courtroom additionally heard that the Workplace of the Legal professional Basic conceded a key doc presupposed to assist the extradition request didn’t, in truth, exist. This revelation undermined the authorized basis of the case, prompting arguments that proceedings in opposition to Warner ought to be discontinued altogether.
AG’s workplace concedes breach of Structure
British King’s Counsel Robert Strang, representing the Legal professional Basic’s workplace, acknowledged earlier than the courtroom that the absence of a binding “specialty” association and the non-existence of the supporting certificates amounted to constitutional violations.
“On condition that at current the claimant is beneath persevering with authorized restraints on his liberty, the courtroom ought to order that the ATP be put aside and that any persevering with restraints on the claimant’s liberty be put aside,” Strang submitted. “I agree that that’s open to the courtroom based mostly on the admitted breaches of the Structure that the Legal professional Basic set out in his written submissions.”
Regardless of the sturdy arguments for termination, Justice Reid stopped in need of instantly quashing the case. As a substitute, she instructed each events to file additional written submissions earlier than delivering a ultimate dedication.
Questions over authorities’s dealing with of case
The ruling follows a sequence of setbacks for the state’s extradition efforts. In August, Legal professional Basic John Jeremie ordered an inner evaluate into how Warner’s case was dealt with amid allegations of misrepresentation and misconduct tied to a 2015 settlement with the US.
Compounding the state’s place, former Chief Justice of the Peace Maria Busby Earle-Caddle revealed in June 2023 that no formal written settlement authorizing Warner’s extradition existed between Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S.
