Snedden v Republic of Croatia

In the case of Snedden v Republic of Croatia, the applicant, Mr Snedden, also known as Dragan Vasiljkovic, applied for an order to be released on bail from Parklea Correction Centre where he was in custody awaiting extradition to the Republic of Croatia. The application was made pursuant to s 21(6)(f)(iv) of the Extradition Act 1988 (Cth). The legal issues that the court was required to decide included whether there were special circumstances justifying the grant of bail under s 21(6)(f)(iv) of the Act and whether the applicant’s rights under international law had been breached by his continued detention. The court also had to consider the public interest in meeting Australia’s treaty obligations and the importance of ensuring that Australia’s extradition procedures were followed.

The court found that the provision of sureties by Mr Snedden’s family and Ms Lukich-Bruce did not constitute special circumstances under s 21(6)(f)(iv) of the Act and did not outweigh the greater public interest in ensuring that Australia’s treaty obligations were met. The importance of the public interest was also referred to by the High Court in Cabal v Cabal [2004] HCA 60, where the Court said that if Australia failed to return a person against whom there was probable cause for concluding that they had committed an extraditable offence, it breached its obligations under international law. The court was not satisfied that there were special circumstances justifying the grant of bail and it followed that the application for bail was dismissed. The applicant remained in custody pending the review of the magistrate’s decision and costs were reserved.

In summary, the court held that the applicant’s continued detention did not breach his rights under international law and that the public interest in meeting Australia’s treaty obligations outweighed the applicant’s right to be released on bail. The application for bail was dismissed, and the applicant remained in custody pending the review of the magistrate’s decision.