Abu Hamza extradition costs
We have a received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the legal costs to the Home Office in recent years involving the …
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We have a received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the legal costs to the Home Office in recent years involving the case of Abu Hamza. Could you tell me how much has been spent on the case in the last five years.
We released the following information on 6 November 2012.
The estimated legal costs for the extradition case of Abu Hamza are £79,728.
The figure is appropriate as some of the external costs were payable jointly with other linked cases. The figure provided has been estimated on the information available. This includes Treasury Solicitors costs and the fees of Counsel acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, including the period during which the cases were before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Costs associated with Treasury Solicitors and Counsel in UK proceedings date back to November 2007. Costs relating to Counsel’s advice whilst the cases were before ECtHR date back to August 2008. Costs for the recent proceedings leading up to and associated with the High Court hearing on 2-4 October 2012 are not fully covered in this figure as they have not all yet been billed to the Home Office.
The estimated legal costs for the attempted removal of British Citizenship from Abu Hamza are £150,674.91. This comprises solicitor costs of £76,231.90 (plus VAT of £13,370.24) and disbursements (Counsel/expert fees) of £52,105.77 (plus VAT of £8,967).
The estimated legal costs relating to his recent application for a British passport are £711.50 plus VAT.