The Gazette 1967/71

(Ij That a territory is an area over which a con tracting party exercised effective jurisdiction, and that the Israeli Government exercised de facto authority over Jerusalem, and that, therefore, Jerusalem was within the territory of Israel. (2) That in Habeas Corpus proceedings under the Extradition Act which had previously been before the magistrate, the Court would not re-hear the case other than considering whether there was a political issue involved. (3) That if additional evidence related to the character of the crimes charged, it would be admissible. (4) That in this case the appellant had merely involved himself in a family quarrel, which was not an offence of a political character. There was also the case of the Polish seaman who was granted asylum after jumping from his ship in London Docks. The attempt to leave Poland was deemed good on political grounds. The Irish Extradition Act was drafted on a similar Convention of the Council of Europe; the principles must depend on reasons set out in the judgments. In the Bourke case, the Supreme Court held on 31st July, 1970 that Bourke had been involved in an offence (helping Blake to escape) which was connected with a political offence (espionage). This argument may possibly allow ordinary criminals to escape surrender, and it was also effective in the Magee case in the Supreme Court (31st July, 1970), though not in the recent Keane case in the House of Lords where reasons have not yet been given. Apart from political asylum, there remains the question of the right of a citizen to receive reason able treatment in an alien country. Under Article 19 of the European Social Charter, steps have been taken between countries for the co-ordin ation of relevant social services and for easing the re-uniting of families. However, a dependant of a British Asian or African subject would not appear to be allowed to enter Britain if he has to undergo intensive medical treatment. There was also the recent case of a Portuguese girl and her mother resident in Jersey. The girl became pregnant and the authorities deported her on moral grounds.

The legal obligations of freedom of move the European Community in clude an obligation to provide social security for migrant workers and reasonable benefits; there is no doubt that the social security standards are infinitely higher on the Continent, and Britain cannot even conform with the minimum standards of social security laid down by the International Labour Office. To sum up, the idea of freedom of movement is desirable but it is too much restricted by adminis trative discretion, which gives administrators free dom to evade the statutes. This discretion should be exercised narrowly, and not widely; particularly when there is in fact no control of aliens as be tween here and Britain. It was amazing that a Norwegian who escaped from custody in Dublin airport, and was subsequently recaptured in a hotel, was not given an opportunity to test whether the Danish warrant under which he was held in fact warranted extradition; this undesirable prac tice should be discontinued. There was conse quently a need for the codification of rules govern ing freedom of movement, particularly in apply ing the American principle of "due process" to it. MINISTERIAL VIEWS ON AUCTIONEERS' FEES IN CONFLICT Two differing Ministerial views on the scale of auctioneers' fees in this country were made apparent in Dublin yesterday, when the Minister for Labour, Mr. Brennan, told an auctioneers gathering that he believed, under certain circum stances, that the threatened reduction in fees was unnecessary. Mr. Brennan, who was addressing the inaugural luncheon of the Irish Auctioneers' and Valuers' Institute, in the Gresham Hotel, said that if real estate agents in this country were to raise their professional standards and provide as high a ser vice as possible to their clients, then they would fully prove their own argument that the present fees structure would remain unchanged. If they were willing to do this, he said, they would "provide the best answer to arguments that the fees should be reduced". 243 ment within

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