Richard Miller wrote:
> If I break a law in a foreign country, I should be liable to be
> prosecuted in that foreign country. If I return to my own country where
> that same action is not a crime, I would not expect either to be
> extradited or to be prosecuted in my home country for doing something
> outside its borders, and therefore outside its legal jurisdiction, and
> that was not a crime anyway.
It was "a crime anyway". You have escaped the consequences of your
criminal act by fleeing the country in which it was performed. Which
cannot be fair or just.
Of course if the country concerned doesn't hold fair trials - then it is
wrong to be sent back to it. But it is equally wrong to be put on trial
there, simply because you didn't or couldn't escape in time.
It is equally unfair when foreigners are "above the law" in a country.
Where they do not even need to flee in order to escape the consequences
of their actions.
>
> I think a lot of comments on this thread have missed an important point,
> namely that according to the report, prosecution would only happen if
> the offence is also a crime in the home country, but even so, this
> extra-territorial jurisdiction is a new departure. While I can
> understand why it has been introduced for extreme cases such as war
> crimes and child . tourism, as they say, hard cases make bad law. Once
> you extend the principle, you end up with a world governed by the most
> extreme and repressive law that can be found anywhere on the planet.
Why? If you don't like the statute book of a particular country - don't
go there. You should then run little risk of breaking that country's
laws. Run no risk of prosecution, either there or here.
But I find it totally unacceptable that a person can go to another
country, break its laws and have the consequences determined solely by
whether they are clever/quick/rich enough to flee.
Why should an assassin be able to kill on the streets of London and then
never face justice? Why should someone be able to mutilate young girls
but never face justice? If we want those crimes to be punished, we must
also accept that our own citizens cannot escape justice by coming home.
I find the immunity from arrest granted to certain aid organisations, in
theatre, particularly evil. And how it is abused, even more so.
--
Sue
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