UK Supreme Court lifts ban on transfer of evidence to the US

A spokesperson for the UK Supreme Court said on Wednesday 26 August that following the assurances regarding the use of the death penalty in the case of Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, given by US Attorney General William P. Barr, the stay preventing the sharing of information with US authorities must be lifted.

The Court ruled in March 2020 that the decision of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to authorise the transmission to the US of personal data in respect of Mr Kotey and Mr Elsheikh was, in the absence of assurances that the prosecution would not seek the death penalty, unlawful under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018. This outcome came following a legal challenge brought by Mr Elsheikh’s mother.

The granting of the assurances and the lifting of the Supreme Court’s stay clears a path for the Home Office to accede to the US request for mutual legal assistance. The UK has until 15 October 2020 to comply with the US request, or the US will turn the men over to the Iraqi criminal justice system for trial.