Government of the United States of America v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin)

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, and Lord Justice Holroyde heard the United States' appeal against my January 2021 discharge on 27 and 28 October 2021 and gave judgment on 10 December 2021.

The appeal turned on four assurances in US Diplomatic Note no. 74 of 5 February 2021: that I would not be subjected to special administrative measures, nor held at the ADX maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado (in each case unless I later did something meeting the test for them); that I would receive any clinical and psychological treatment recommended by a qualified treating clinician; and that the United States would consent to an application to transfer me to Australia to serve any sentence. The court held that it could receive assurances offered at the appeal stage and that they answered the concerns behind the district judge's decision.

The court rejected the US grounds challenging the district judge's assessment of the psychiatric evidence, but allowed the appeal on the grounds concerning assurances. It quashed the discharge order and remitted the case to Westminster Magistrates' Court with a direction to send it to the Secretary of State, who ordered my extradition on 17 June 2022.

The judgment was handed down in the High Court (Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court) and published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary and on The National Archives' Find Case Law service. The Home Secretary's extradition order of 17 June 2022, made after the case was sent to her, is recorded in the High Court's judgment of 26 March 2024; the order itself has not been published.