The twin impact of Brexit and the pandemic is seeing fewer international criminals extradited, with numbers being brought to the UK to face justice are also down
Police forces in the UK arrested 1,086 criminals wanted by other European countries in 2020/21. The figure was down from 1,168 the previous year - the fifth annual decrease in a row.
However, just 461 people were extradited to the country where their crime was committed, down from 689 a year before and the lowest number since records began in 2009/10.
A new appeal has today been launched to trace and bring to justice 12 of the UK’s most wanted fugitives believed to be hiding in Spain.
The offenders, all men, are wanted for crimes including murder, large-scale drugs trafficking and supplying firearms and ammunition.
Data from the National Crime Agency (NCA) shows arrests of criminals wanted by the UK in EU countries has also gone down from 269 to 224.
Extraditions also dropped from 231 in 2019/20 to 167 in 2020/21.
These falls come despite other EU countries making 15,939 requests to the UK to look for wanted criminals potentially in the country, up from 14,554 in 2019/20, and the UK making 324 requests to EU countries, up from 285 and the highest number in ten years.
Nearly half (105) of those the UK was looking for abroad were from the UK.
Spain and Ireland were the destinations of choice for criminals seeking to avoid UK police, with each accounting for 41 arrests made in 2020/21.
Changes to international arrest and extradition procedures as a result of Brexit are one potential issue causing a slowdown.
Up until December 31 last year, the UK could apply for a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to more quickly and easily extradite suspects from EU countries, while those in the rest of the EU could do the same for wanted criminals in the UK
The UK leaving the EU means it can no longer access the EAW system, and European databases that share that information, with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) replacing the EAW.
However, under the new system EU countries can now refuse to surrender their own nationals, or do so only in certain conditions, and they can refuse to execute a warrant for political offences.
As well as changes to the extradition processes itself, according to a NCA spokesperson, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted a number of steps in the extradition process, and will continue to do so well into 2021.
The agency explains the pandemic has affected the likelihood of arrest in lockdown conditions, the total amount of movement between countries, and the logistics around the surrender of requested persons.
A NCA spokesperson said: “However, year on year extradition data is of limited use in determining trends in the overall system and offer little insight into the new arrangements which came into effect in January 2021. The length of time taken for someone to be surrendered and by extension, the number of surrenders taking place over the course of a short period, can vary widely across different cases.”
