20081121 Jack Straw To Alex Salmond Prisoner Transfer Agreement

Ministry of

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP

jii Sri C E

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice 102 Petty France London SW1H 9AJ

1’ 020 3334 3720 F 020 3334 3669 E general quenesjustice gs gov u

The Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP First Minister The Office of the First Minister St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG

www.justice.gov.uk

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November 2008

k \U( / PRISONER TRANSFER AGREEMENT

I write further to our previous conversations on the Megrahi case and the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA). th When we spoke on 7 November I advised you that the PTA was set for signatu re along with three other agreements proposed under the 2007 MoU between the UK and Libya. Signature of all four agreements took th place on 17 November, with Bill Rammell. Minister of State at the Foreign and Comm onwealth Office, signing on behalf of the Government, and the Libyan Minister for Europe , Abudulatti Obidi, on behalf of the Libyan Authorities. A signed copy of the PTA is attached here for your information until this is laid before Parliament I would apprec iate it if you could regard this as confidential as it is subject to Parliamentary privilege.

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I committed to provide you with further details of the ratification process that is required before the PTA can come into force. At the UK end, we are required, under the Ponsonby Rule, to publish the PTA as a Command Paper and lay it. together with an Explanatory Memorandum, before Parliament at Westminster for a minimum of 21 sitting days. Once that period has passed, and once Libya has completed its own internal procedures, the PTA can be ratified, by the exchange of instruments of ratification with Lbya. Once ratified. the PTA will be published again and circulated in the Treaty Series. It is also Government practice to send copies of treaties that raise significant human rights issues to the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR). together with a copy of the Explanatory Memorandum. As this is the first PTA to be ratified by the UK which does not require the consent of the prisoner, the Government is considering whether it would be appropriate to send the JCHR a copy of the PTA Time for consideration of a treaty oy a Select Committee should normally take place within the 21 sitting day period mentioned above but it would be open to the JCHR to ask for an extension

The Government has undertaken to respo nd positively to requests by select committees for extensions. provided circumsta nces permit and the case is justified. I therefore anticipate that the PTA will complete its ratification process in

the New Year; I will of course keep you and your officia ls updated on further developments and prov ide firm confirmation of date of ratification once we have this information.

I understand that your officials have spok en with Minister Obidi in the past few days. post-signature. You will be aware that Libyan concerns for Megrahi’s health and possible return to Libya remain. I would like to assure you that at both Ministerial and official level we are continuing to reiterate to the Libyans that any questions of treatment, possible compassionate relea se or any application to transfer under the PTA and bail are a matter exclusively for Scottish Ministers and Scottish Courts respectively. In this vein I welcome the offer of your officials to continue talking to the Libyans about any matters in respect of this issue.

Officials in Whitehall remain in close cont act with your lead officials and I remain committed to working closely with you, providing support where necessary.

JACK STRAW