Russian Assurances

Whilst the UK government has no hesitation in accusing Russia of using a chemical agent in an attempted murder on UK soil, the English courts still find no reason to doubt the truthfulness and reliability of the Russian Federation when it comes to providing assurances in extradition cases.

In 2012 the ECtHR handed down its decision in Ananyev v Russia. It found that the applicants had been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment whilst detained in Russian prisons, a finding it had already made in 80 cases in the preceding 10 years. It also went further and adopted the "pilot judgment" procedure; a measure adopted only when a chronic and systemic problem has been identified.

On the back of this judgment, the English courts continued to refuse extradition on the basis that requested persons were at real risk of suffering inhuman or degrading treatment in Russian prisons. A significant judgment was handed down by Senior District Judge Riddle in Russia v Fotinova which ended with a postscript that all extradition requests from Russia would be refused until there was evidence that conditions had improved or until there were specific undertakings about the conditions in which the prisoner would be held. This was the position of the courts until the case of Russia v Kononko. This was the first case where the Russian authorities really engaged with the UK authorities in extradition proceedings. Assurances were provided that Mr Kononko would not be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment and permitted a British prison inspector to visit SIZO 5 where Mr Konoko would be held. Professor Rod Morgan visited SIZO 5 (at the same time, and the cynics may say not coincidentally, Gerard Depardieu was giving interviews to the Russian media proclaiming prisons in Russia were better than those in France) and found that the prison was not overcrowded. In light of this finding the Senior District Judge concluded that there was no real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment.

Mr Kononko's extradition was halted on other grounds, however this case showed a marked change in the way Russian cases were approached. It appeared that the judge would have been willing to rely on the assurances provided by the Russian Federation, despite a catalogue of evidence of Russia's failures to comply with its international obligations on a number of occasions.

There wasn't long to wait before it was discovered that Senior District Judge Riddle's trust had been misplaced. In...