The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed regret over a Scottish court’s decision to not extradite British fugitive Zain Dean to Taiwan, saying it is seeking to file another appeal against the ruling through Taiwanese representatives in the UK.
The Taiwan High Court in July 2012 sentenced Dean to four years in prison for hitting and killing a newspaper delivery man surnamed Huang (黃) while driving under the influence of alcohol in March 2010.
He was supposed to begin serving his sentence in 2012, but fled Taiwan in August that year.
A Taiwan-UK memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Dean’s extradition was signed on Oct. 16, 2013, marking the first instance of mutual legal assistance between the two sides, the ministry said in a statement.
Based on the MOU, Taiwan the next day filed a proposal with the UK requesting Dean’s extradition, but Scotland’s High Court of Justiciary on Thursday rejected it in a retrial, the ministry said.
While the Scottish Justice Directorate in August 2014 had agreed with the extradition request, the High Court of Justiciary in 2016 overruled the decision after Dean appealed the case, prompting Taiwan to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, which in June 2017 asked the high court to conduct a retrial, the ministry said.
During 12 court sessions in Scotland from September 2017 to December last year, the Ministry of Justice offered information to Scottish prosecutors and stayed in contact with the Taipei Representative Office in Edinburgh, it said.
However, Scottish judges remained skeptical over whether Taiwan would observe the doctrine of specialty stipulated in the MOU, which requires Taiwan not to try Dean for pre-extradition offenses, such as breaches of the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), the justice ministry said.
The foreign ministry expressed regret over Thursday’s ruling, but said it respects the Scottish court’s independent trial and thanked British judicial authorities for assisting with the case.
It would continue working with the Ministry of Justice and ask Taipei representatives in London and Edinburgh to stay in contact with Scottish prosecutors to plan another appeal to the UK Supreme Court for Dean’s extradition, it said.
Despite the setback, the case showed that Taiwan’s judiciary was recognized by the UK, and the justice ministry was also recommended for observer status at the European Judicial Network, as well as being a contact channel in anticipation of closer collaboration with European countries in transnational legal assistance in criminal matters, it said.
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