Cynic wrote:
> On Sat, 10 May 2008 08:39:29 GMT, Palindrome wrote:
>
>> I don't think that you will find many people that agree that foreigners
>> should be able to come here, break laws but escape punishment - simply
>> by returning home to a country which doesn't have such laws.
>
> But that is *exactly* how it works for almost everything. There is a
> huge practical problem involved in having a trial of a person who has
> not broken the law of the country he is being tried in.
So it is generally going to be in everyone's interest to ship the
accused off for trial.
>
> It would require finding barristers and a judge who knows the law of
> the country in question - what factors need to be proven, what
> standard of proof, and what constitutes a valid defence.
Not if the accused pleads guilty. Which they may do, if the alternative
is to be extradited.
>
> Not to mention the method of trial itself, which may be significantly
> different in the other country.
A fair trial is a fair trial - irrespective of the technicalities of how
that fair trial is managed. There is no need to adopt the other
country's system of justice.
>
> The alternative would be to extridite the accused back to the country
> of the alleged crime to stand trial. For entirely pragmatic reasons
> only *extremely* serious crimes are deemed to merit extradition, and
> only then if the country the person is being sent to is deemed to have
> a fair system of justice.
>
IIUC, all that is necessary for a UK citizen to be sent to the USA for
trial is that one simple form is prepared and submitted to the UK
authorities. That seems simple enough to be used for a whole range of
activities that aren't illegal here. Yet.
--
Sue |