The Schedule: Power of arrest for extradition purposes Part 1 – Main Amendments to the Extradition Act 2003 Section 74B
This section provides for the issue of a certificate in respect of a person, for the purpose of enabling that person’s arrest under new section 74A.
	Under subsection (1), the power to issue a certificate is conferred on the designated authority, which is the National Crime Agency (subsection (4)). The Secretary of State may alter the designated authority by regulations, including to designate more than one authority or to designate different authorities for different parts of the United Kingdom (subsections (5) and (6)). This provides flexibility should future operational arrangements require it.
	Subsection (1) further provides that the power to issue a certificate in respect of a person is contingent upon the criteria in paragraphs (a) to (d) being met. Absence of reasonable grounds for issuing the certificate constitutes a mandatory ground of discharge, upon application to the judge, under new section 74D(10)(b)(i).
	To meet the criterion in paragraph (a) of subsection (1), the designated authority must have received a request for arrest which complies with the criteria for a valid request in new section 74C and the request for arrest must have been made by an authority of a specified category 2 territory. Subsection (7) defines a "specified category 2 territory" as a category 2 territory that is specified in Schedule A1.
	Under paragraph (b), the designated authority must be satisfied that the request is made under arrangements which allow such a request to be made only if a warrant for the person’s arrest has been issued in the category 2 territory or if the person is alleged to be unlawfully at large after conviction of an offence in the category 2 territory. This is intended to ensure that certificates are only issued where requests are underpinned by a domestic warrant, or a conviction, in the requesting territory.
	The criteria in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) are intended to ensure that certificates are only issued in respect of serious offences. Under paragraph (c), the designated authority must have reasonable grounds for believing that the offence described in the request is a serious extradition offence. Subsection (10) sets out that, for these purposes, a "serious extradition offence" is an extradition offence within the meaning of sections 137 and 138 of the 2003 Act, subject to certain modifications. The key modification is that the conduct in question must constitute an offence punishable in the United Kingdom by a custodial sentence of three years or more (rather than one year or more, as in sections 137 and 138). Additionally, the conduct may constitute an offence in any part of the United Kingdom, reflecting the fact that extradition proceedings in a particular jurisdiction of the United Kingdom will not have commenced at this stage. Under paragraph (d) of subsection (1), the designated authority must also be satisfied that the seriousness of the offence makes it appropriate to issue the certificate. For example, although the offence of theft carries a maximum custodial sentence of seven years (so that conduct constituting the offence of theft may meet the definition of a serious extradition offence), certification would not be appropriate if the conduct in question related to low-value shoplifting.
	Subsection (2) sets out the information that must be included on the certificate. It requires certain matters – in particular, the validity of the request for arrest, the seriousness of the offence and the specification of the category 2 territory which made the request in Schedule A1 – to be certified in the certificate. It also requires information found in the request for arrest concerning the basis for arrest to be set out. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) refers to the form of the request. If, for example the request was issued in the form of an Interpol Red Notice, the certificate must state this. Non-compliance with subsection (2) provides a discretionary ground for discharge in new section 74D(10)(a)(ii).
	Under subsection (3), a certificate may be withdrawn and reissued on the basis of the same request if the person has not yet been arrested in reliance on it. This will enable the designated authority to fix a defective certificate if not yet relied upon. However, should a judge have exercised his or her discretion to discharge a person on the basis that the certificate did not meet the criteria in new section 74B(2), the designated authority would only be able to issue a further certificate under new section 74B in respect of a freshly issued request.
	Subsection (8) allows the Secretary of State to amend, by regulations, the list of specified category 2 territories in Schedule A1 and to amend, in consequence, what it means to make a request "in the approved way" in new section 74C(6). This consequential power would, for example, allow for the fact that there may be different authorities within the newly specified territory which have the function of issuing requests in that territory and that it may be appropriate to single out one or more of them.