Soering v United Kingdom 161 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) (1989) is a landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) which established that extradition of a German national to the United States to face charges of capital murder and the potential exposure of said citizen to the death row phenomenon violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guaranteeing the right against inhuman and degrading treatment. In addition to the precedent established by the judgment, the judgment specifically resulted in the United States and the State of Virginia committing to not seeking the death penalty against the German national involved in the case, and he was eventually extradited to the United States.
Background
The applicant, Jens Söring, is a German national, born in 1966, who was brought by his parents to the United States at age 11. In 1984, he was an 18-year-old Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia, where he became good friends with Elizabeth Haysom, a Canadian national two years his elder.
Haysom's parents, William Reginald Haysom and Nancy Astor Haysom, lived from the university, in the then unincorporated hamlet of Boonsboro, in Bedford County, Virginia. According to the account provided later to local police, Söring and Elizabeth Haysom decided to kill Haysom's parents; and, to divert suspicion, they rented a car in Charlottesville and drove to Washington D.C. On 30 March 1985, Söring drove to the Haysom residence and dined with the unsuspecting couple. During or after dinner, he picked a quarrel and viciously attacked them with a knife. Both were found with their throats slit and with stab and slash wounds to the neck and body.
In October 1985, Söring and Elizabeth Haysom fled to Europe; and, on 30 April 1986, they were arrested in England, United Kingdom, on charges of cheque fraud. Six weeks later, a grand jury of the Circuit Court of Bedford County, Virginia, indicted Söring with the capital murder of the Haysoms, as well as their separate non-capital murders. On 11 August 1986, the United States requested extradition for the pair, based on the 1972 extradition treaty. A warrant was issued under section 8 of the Extradition Act 1870 for the arrest of Söring, and he was committed to await the Home Secretary's order to extradite him to the United States.
Söring filed a petition for habeas corpus with the Divisional Court and requested permission for judicial review of the decision to commit him, arguing that the Extradition Act 1870 did not authorise extradition for a capital charge. He also cited article IV of the US-UK extradition treaty, which provides that an extradition request for an offence carrying the death penalty can be refused if the requesting country has not given "assurances [...] that the death penalty will not be carried out". No specific assurance was given by the United States, or the State of Virginia, that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty or that Söring would not be executed. The UK government received only an undertaking from the Commonwealth Attorney of Bedford County to the effect that:-
Söring contended that this assurance was worthless. The Virginia authorities later communicated to the UK government that they would not offer further assurances, as they intended to seek the death penalty against Soering.
On 11 December 1987, Lord Justice Lloyd in the Divisional Court admitted that the assurance "leaves something to be desired" but refused the request for judicial review, stating that Söring's request was premature, as the Home Secretary had not yet accepted the assurance.
Söring appealed to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, which rejected his claim on 30 June 1988. He then petitioned the Home Secretary without success, the latter authorizing extradition on 3 August 1988.
Anticipating this outcome, Söring had filed a claim with the European Commission of Human Rights (ECHR) on 9 July 1988, asserting that he would face inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights ("the Convention") were he to be extradited to the US, it being likely that the death penalty would be applied.