BSQ Case Heard before Grand Chamber of European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

BSQ partner Roger Sahota represents Ismail Sanchez-Sanchez, a Mexican national who is accused of being a high ranking figure in a Mexican drug cartel. Roger is one of London’s leading criminal lawyers with a specialisation in international criminal law. Mr Sanchez was arrested in the United Kingdom in response to an extradition request from the United States of America and Roger has represented Mr Sanchez since his arrival and arrest in the UK in 2018.

On Wednesday the 23rd February 2021 Mr Sanchez’s case was heard before the 21 panel of Judges sitting in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Judgment has been reserved and will be delivered in writing in due course. The case is noteworthy because it may set an important precedent concerning the application of Article 3 of the ECHR to extradition cases which will have wide reaching implications for states requesting the return of fugitive offenders from other jurisdiction. It is also the first Grand Chamber case since 2019 and the first since Brexit.

The Grand Chamber will deal with the issue of whether Mr Sanchez should be extradited to the USA. He 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.

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.

Roger acts for Mr Sanchez together with Barristers David Josse Q.C. and Ben Keith of 5 St Andrews Hill chambers in London. 

Commenting on the case Roger 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.”

Read about the case in more detail in our extradition blog here.

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