Office of the King's Prosecutor, Brussels (Respondents) v Armas (Appellant)

The appeal was brought by Mr Armas, an Ecuadorean citizen who had been convicted in absentia by a Belgian court of offences relating to human trafficking and forgery. The Belgian government sought his surrender from the UK to serve his sentence. The appeal was against a decision of the Divisional Court which held that the Belgian request for surrender was valid under the Extradition Act 2003. The central issue was whether the offences for which Mr Armas was convicted met the criteria for surrender under section 65 of the Act. The House of Lords held that the appeal should be dismissed and the case remitted to the Magistrates' Court. The Lords found that while some of the conduct alleged against Mr Armas occurred in the UK, this did not preclude surrender under section 65(3) of the Act as long as some of the conduct occurred in Belgium. The Lords also noted issues with the European arrest warrant issued by Belgium which did not contain the required statement that Mr Armas was "unlawfully at large". However, the Lords were not satisfied that this was a fatal defect and suggested the issue be revisited at the remitted hearing.