Government response to IAC report on Albanian Prisoner Transfer Agreement

This is the government's response, published 24 February 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government answers the Committee's three queries on the Albania Prisoner Transfer Agreement by setting out existing checks and arrangements, without committing to submit an updated Explanatory Memorandum.

• On prison conditions, it says checks are carried out on the receiving country's prisons before any PTA, which "can include" independent sources, and that prison conditions in Albania "have not been raised as a matter for challenge" to date.
• On the number of transfers, it says both parties agreed not to fix exact numbers at signing because a new Albanian government was being formed, so a target figure was "left as a matter for the new administration".
• On finances, it states that savings from holding Albanian foreign national offenders "outweigh the repatriation costs", and that "At present, the MoJ is not providing any funding to the Albanian prison system."
• On consultation, it says the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive were consulted, "No concerns were directly raised", and all administrations will be informed once ratification is completed.

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