KING'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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THE KING | ||
(ON THE APPLICATION OF GRZEGORZ JANUSZ PABIAN) | Claimant | |
-and- | ||
CITY OF WESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES' COURT | Defendant | |
-and- | ||
(1) CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE | ||
(2) NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY | Interested Parties |
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Lower Ground, 46 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1JE
Web: www.epiqglobal.com/en-gb/ Email: civil@epiqglobal.co.uk
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MS LAURA HERBERT (instructed by Crown Prosecution Service ) appeared on behalf of the First Interested Party.
MR CIJU PUTHUPPALLY (instructed by National Crime Agency) appeared on behalf of National Crime Agency)appeared on behalf of Second Interested Party.
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE KERR:
Introduction and Summary
The Facts
"Note – we [that is, the NCA] will wait for the sealed order in order to both start the countdown for the CPOL period and from then the countdown for removal if no CPOL appeal submitted.
[I interject that CPOL stands for certifying a point of law; I interject further that it is not clear whether that annotation was contemporaneous or not.]
15/10/2024 - internal email from Admin Court asking court associates to chase draft order and serve ASAP.
22/10/2024 - chaser from CPS to Admin Court asking when the court order is to be served.
22/10/2024 - order from the court dated 22/10/2024 but stamped 26/09/2024.
From our point of view [that is, the NCA's point of view] the CPOL period now starts from the 22/10/2024 and then the countdown to surrender period - as the sealed court order was only served on us on that date (22nd Oct)."
"when considering such applications a) a rigorous approach would generally be required b) length of delay should not be disregarded and might be relevant to the question of whether the delay had or had not a reasonable cause; c) gravity of offending was not material and d) onus was placed firmly on the requesting state to justify the delay."
"6. I have a wide discretion in construing a reasonable cause. I take note that in case of Owens that an administrative error might amount to a reasonable cause in the delay. In Desai, it was said that there could be cases where even negligence could encompass a reasonable cause for delay. I have not been told of the reasons for NCA's lack of response to the CPS email of the 14 October 2024. They might have been negligent in not responding to the CPS.
7. It is also clear to me that when the High Court sent out the order dated 22nd October where there was a seal date of 26th September 2024, the NCA was taking its direction from the date of the High Court order. The NCA was working with that date and thought that they had time to remove the RP [requested person]. I find as a fact that the NCA was mistaken and in error. If there had been negligence, it was in not responding to the CPS email but choosing to wait for the High Court order.
8. Having given consideration to that, I find that there is reasonable cause for the delay on part of the NCA in relying on the date of the High Court order and the element of negligence does not prevent me finding a reasonable cause of the delay. The delay period is only 11 days. The application for a discharge fails."
Submissions
Reasoning and Conclusion