Finally

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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d1c76378-8d26-11...144feab49a.html

 

Lets see if they follow through.

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Needs copy/pasting. You need to register to read it.

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Government puts extradition under scrutiny

By Jane Croft, Law Courts Correspondent

 

Published: July 11 2010 23:18 | Last updated: July 11 2010 23:18

 

The coalition government will review the UK’s controversial extradition arrangements with the US after years of criticism about the reach of American law beyond its borders and the fairness of Britain’s extradition framework.

 

The Home Office confirmed that the government is “giving careful consideration to the extradition arrangements to ensure they operate effectively and in the interests of justice”. A review could be announced before the summer recess. The system will come under further scrutiny during the trial, due to start today, of British businessman Ian Norris, 67, the former head of engineering group Morgan Crucible

 

Mr Norris lost his seven-year battle against extradition in March and will stand trial in Pennsylvania on obstruction of justice charges brought by US prosecutors. If convicted he could face five years in jail.

 

Alistair Graham, partner at White & Case, whose law firm is acting for Mr Norris, said that the retired businessman, who has suffered from prostate cancer, intended to fight his case: “He maintains his innocence and has been keen to secure a speedy trial,” he said.

 

The business community has long complained that the Extradition Act of 2003 has skewed the landscape in favour of the US even when the alleged crimes were committed mostly away from American soil.

 

High-profile cases have included that of Gary McKinnon, the self-confessed hacker of US military computers, who is trying to fight extradition to the US by arguing that he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.

 

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Financial Times has established that as of last April, there were 29 people – including 12 British citizens – who had been arrested due to US extradition requests who had not been handed over.

 

The FOI request shows that under the 2003 UK-US bilateral extradition treaty which came into force in April 2007, 23 people were extradited from the UK (excluding Scotland) to the US. Of these, five were British or had dual British nationality.

 

The requests from the Department of Justice relate to alleged offences involving terrorism, murder, fraud, drugs, money laundering, computer hacking and evading export licences.

 

One lawyer, who did not wish to be named, said Mr Norris’s case showed that there “was an imbalance between the US and the rest of the world” in terms of extradition but that addressing this “would not be an easy thing to do” given this was a highly politicised area of the law.

 

US prosecutors began pursuing Mr Norris in 2002 after he retired as chief executive of Morgan Crucible and described him as one of the targets of an international crime crackdown.

 

Allegations of price-fixing against him were thrown out by the Lords two years ago on the grounds that the offence was not specifically criminalised in the UK until 2003.

 

Lawyers said the government has the legal power to bring in an amendment to the Extradition Act 2003. A “sunrise provision”, is already in place and can be put on the statute books almost immediately if parliament agrees.

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When I saw it was from the FT I was hoping it would be interest rates going up or something.

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3 years or so ago 3 Natwest bankers were deported to Texas in connection with the Enron trial. They were kept under house arrest for the best part of a year iirc awaiting trial, at their own expense, forbidden to work or travel and largely without their families. No crime had been committed against US citizens or US companies, and they had effectively squealed on themselves. In view of the costs and ridiculous jail terms if found guilty, they were forced to plea bargain and serve jail time in a Texan jail.

 

Absolutely disgraceful. Even if they were grubby merchant bankers. No way would that happen to US citizens, I can't stand the way we bend over and take it form them tbh.

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We are constantly under scrutiny from the US and a number of colleagues have been "invited" to see US lawyers about matters that occurred on British soil. Hopefully the coalition can stand up to the US a little better than the last lot.

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When I saw it was from the FT I was hoping it would be interest rates going up or something.

 

Afraid not. Inflation set to stay below 2% so no rise in the near term.

 

That said who knows what is around the corner.