Sanchez-Sanchez v. United Kingdom (application no. 22854/20 will be heard today (23 February).
The applicant Ismail Sanchez-Sanchez, is a Mexican national who is accused of being a high ranking figure in a Mexican drug cartel. Mr Sanchez was arrested in the United Kingdom in response to an extradition request from the United States of America. Mr Sanchez is wanted in the USA for allegations of drug trafficking which include an accusation that he was implicated in a fatality linked to a shipment of fentanyl. If extradited, Mr Sanchez-Sanchez will be tried for offences that carry a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
The Grand Chamber will deal with the issue of whether Mr Sanchez should be extradited to the USA. Mr Sanchez claims that he should not be removed to the USA because his likely punishment – a sentence of life without parole sentence – violates international human rights standards as it infringes Article 3 of the European Convention.
Article 3 of the Convention prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment. in the leading decision of Trabelsi v. Belgium of 2014 the European Court found that extradition to the USA where the individual risked life imprisonment without parole entailed a violation of the Convention under Article 3 ECHR.
Mr Sanchez’s was initially arrested in the UK on the 19th April 2018. His case has been admitted to the EctHR after the English High Court in Sanchez v United States of America [2020] EWHC 508 (Admin) refused his appeal against the decision of Westminster Magistrates Court to order his removal. Sanchez than obtained a rule 39 injunction from the European Court in Spring 2020. The injunction prevents his removal from the UK until the European Court has ruled on his case.
This case highlights a conflict in the legal approach taken by the UK courts and the ECtHR to the issue of life without parole. There are in essence two conflicting authorities dealing with the US system. In Trabelsi, the ECtHR held that in order not to be in breach of Article 3, the law should provide a review mechanism whereby an offender facing a life sentence could seek a reduction in sentence. The Court considered the two routes available to life prisoners in the US, namely a presidential pardon or compassionate release, and held that “none of the procedures provided for amounts to a review mechanism.”
In contrast, the High Court examined the system for prisoners sentenced to life in the in Harkins and Edwards v. the United Kingdom, nos. 9146/07 and 32650/07 and decided that the US arrangements did provide a mechanism for review of a life sentence.
Sanchez is to be heard alongside the case of McCullum v Italy another extradition request from the United States of America, in that case to Italy.
Barristers David Josse Q.C. and Ben Keith represent Sanchez-Sanchez instructed by Roger Sahota of Berkeley Square Solicitors.
Roger Sahota, the solicitor acting for Sanchez said:
“This case raises fundamental questions of human rights. Nobody questions the fact that serious offences can warrant a life sentence, But anyone facing a sentence of life without parole should be allowed to know how they might if ever be released, even if in some cases the possibility of release may never arise. Governments should not be allowed to lock individuals up and effectively throw away the key.”
Roger Sahota is a solicitor and partner at Berkeley Square Solicitors specialising in international and domestic criminal law. Roger has acted in a number regularly retained as the “homme d’affaires” for many political and military officials, high net worth individuals, CEO’s, senior politicians, media figures and celebrities. He has acted for and advised in several head of state prosecutions.
David Josse Q.C. has been Head of Chambers at 5 St Andrew’s Hill since 2015. He is a barrister specialising in extradition, human rights, international war crimes and serious crime, both nationally and internationally. David is ranked in The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a silk in the field of extradition at the London Bar. He is Vice-Chair of the Bar Council International Committee.
Ben Keith is a leading specialist in Extradition and International Crime, as well as dealing with Immigration, Serious Fraud, and Public law. He has extensive experience of appellate proceedings before the Administrative and Divisional Courts, Criminal and Civil Court of Appeal as well as applications and appeals to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and United Nations. Ben is ranked in The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners in the field of extradition at the London Bar.
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