Courts crack down on foreign criminals using Scotland as a safe haven

FOREIGN criminals who are treating Scotland as a safe haven face being extradited in greater numbers under plans to tighten up the justice system.

Two pilot schemes are ensuring foreign nationals who appear before Scottish courts have their history checked as a matter of course and face being returned to their native countries if they have previous or outstanding charges.

The schemes will be rolled out nationwide when the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act, which was passed in the summer, comes into force.

The extradition of Poles was being held up by claims that the conditions of Polish prisons violated their human rights. However, that has now been quashed in the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh, leading to a series of extradition cases.

Sources at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where all extraditions from Scotland take place, say they have seen Poles passing through the system in greater numbers lately.

Interpol is also believed to be planning to tighten up information-sharing between countries to ensure people are not able to evade justice simply by passing between jurisdictions.

The steps have been welcomed by politicians increasingly concerned that the ease with which people can cross borders, particularly within the European Union, is making criminals harder to track.

Robert Brown, Scottish Liberal Democrats justice spokesman, said: "Often disclosure information we got from other countries was less than adequate, particularly if it was from a less developed part of the European Union. Sometimes no records were in the case and people would come across who have issues. It is manifestly right that we should improve that and make it better."

Section 71 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act requires that foreign previous convictions be available to the court at the defendant's first appearance in criminal cases in Scotland.

Although the Crown Office and procurator fiscal service was unable to say how many extradition requests had been received this year, it is set to be higher than the 137 the Lord Advocate received in 2009.

The Crown Office International Cooperation Unit, which is responsible for executing international arrest warrants, recently successfully argued a number of cases in the appeal court relating to prison conditions abroad, which has resulted in an increase of offenders being extradited to face prosecution or imprisonment. In July and August a total of 19 individuals were extradited, compared to six in total in the previous two months.

A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service spokesman said: "We are committed to working with other agencies both at home and abroad to ensure that offenders are brought to justice whether in Scotland or in a foreign jurisdiction from which they have fled."