In Hayes and Others v. UK, the European Court of Human Rights has, for the first time, applied the second limb of the Sanchez-Sanchez test. The case marks a subtle but significant recalibration of the Court’s stance on irreducible life sentences, and appears to distance the extradition context from the more robust protections established in Vinter v. UK.

The High Court has refused a renewed extradition request from Albania for an Albanian-British citizen accused of participating in a 1999 double murder. The Court held that returning the RP would expose him to a flagrant denial of justice, violating Article 6 ECHR, due to serious procedural failings in Albanian proceedings.