Thursday, March 25, 1999 Published at 04:22 GMT
Straw considers Pinochet case
Pinochet opponents: Initial relief at verdict
The Law Lords' ruling in full
Home Secretary Jack Straw is considering the latest legal complexities entangling Spanish attempts to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from Britain to face torture charges.
In a major boost to the general, the Law Lords reduced the number of charges against General Pinochet, and asked Mr Straw to reconsider the case. He has accepted their demand.
The general's lawyers immediately applied for a judicial review of Mr Straw's original decision to begin extradition proceedings - but three High Court judges adjourned the application until Monday.
The Chilean President, Eduardo Frei, welcomed the ruling, saying it recognised Chile's judicial sovereignty.
General Pinochet was arrested in London in October on an extradition warrant from Spain, which wants to try him over alleged human rights abuses.
The majority of General Pinochet's alleged crimes occurred before 1988.
Clive Nicholls, QC, representing General Pinochet, said: "This is the clearest case where the Secretary of State's authority to proceed is fatally flawed."
As the verdict was announced, both opponents and supporters of General Pinochet celebrated outside the House of Lords in London and in the streets of the Chilean capital, Santiago.
Meanwhile human rights lawyers and activists hailed the ruling as a landmark legal victory.
The United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said the ruling was a ringing endorsement that torture is an international crime subject to universal jurisdiction.
More than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared in Chile between 1973 and 1990 when the general was in power.
Case far from over
The chairman of the Law Lords also called for the case to be reconsidered by Mr Straw.
"Torture outside the United Kingdom was not a crime under the law of the United Kingdom until the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, Section 134, came into force on 29 September 1988."
If General Pinochet's lawyers lose before the High Court, they could appeal to the Law Lords again.
The High Court ruled in his favour, but the following month five Law Lords allowed an appeal.
They held, by a 3-2 majority, that General Pinochet was not, as he claimed, immune to prosecution for acts committed as a head of state.
In a dramatic twist, the decision was subsequently set aside after it was revealed that Lord Hoffmann, who ruled against the general, had indirect connections to the anti-Pinochet human rights organisation, Amnesty International.
The new panel of seven Law Lords spent nearly twice as much time considering the case as their predecessors. They produced a supporting document that is reportedly 200 pages long.
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