Dabas v High Court of Justice in Madrid, Spain

The House of Lords considered an appeal against the surrender of Mr Moutaz Almallah Dabas to Spain to face charges related to the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004. The appeal was based on three grounds: first, that the European arrest warrant issued by Spain did not comply with section 64(2) of the Extradition Act 2003 as it was not accompanied by a certificate; second, that the conduct alleged against Mr Dabas did not satisfy the dual criminality requirements of section 64(3); and third, that the warrant did not satisfy the requirements of section 64(3) as it did not set out or otherwise make available the text of the relevant law. The appeal was dismissed by the House. The Lords rejected the argument that the European arrest warrant itself could not serve as the certificate required by section 64(2)(b) and (c). They held that the warrant, signed by a judge, constituted a certification by the judge, and that it would be inconsistent with the trust and respect assumed to exist between judicial authorities to insist on any additional verification. The Lords also found that the conduct alleged against Mr Dabas satisfied the double criminality test under section 64(3) and that the warrant contained sufficient information to satisfy the requirements of section 64(3) without necessitating an analysis of the foreign law.