The British High Court has upheld a denial of the United States government’s extradition request concerning a US citizen charged with a number of serious sexual offences. The charges relate to allegations of sexual abuse committed by Roger Giese against a 14 year old boy over a 4 year period from 1998 in California. Giese fled to England while on bail preparing to stand trial, establishing a new identity and remaining undetected by US authorities until 2014.
The High Court upheld the denial of the extradition request because of the ‘real risk’ Giese faced upon return to California that he would be subjected to a procedure known as civil commitment. Civil commitment allows for the indefinite detention of people who have served prison sentences for certain types of sexual offences but are still deemed to be ‘mentally ill and dangerous’ by State-appointed medical experts. It is practised in 20 States in the US, but each State adheres to its own guidelines.
The Court held that civil commitment would constitute a ‘flagrant denial’ of rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Though the Court recognised that Article 5 of the ECHR permits the deprivation of liberty in cases which include the lawful detention of persons of unsound mind, it took issue with the overly broad scope of the approach taken by California in its civil commitment procedure. That ‘the net is cast widely’ by those medical professionals responsible for identifying who should be subjected to civil commitment means that those with a mental diagnosis which falls ‘far short of unsound mind’ are likely to be committed. Persons who do not ‘think correctly’ or ‘make the wrong decision’ may also be committed. As such, the Court ruled that the extradition request should be denied given the real risk that Giese may be subjected to civil commitment and thus carrying out the extradition would be inconsistent with his rights under Article 5 of the ECHR.
The case marks the second time British judges have refused extradition requests from US authorities on the grounds that civil commitment of sex offenders constitutes a breach of human rights under the ECHR. The process of civil commitment has also been declared to be unconstitutional by federal judges in the US, in Missouri and Minnesota.
Click here to read the full UK High Court ruling.
Click here to read a previous UK High Court ruling on the issue.