US / UK Extradition

BBC Radio 4's Law in Action was broadcast on Tuesday, 27 June, 2006 at 1600 BST.

The United States has an independent legal system based on the British model, so why does everyone in the UK seem to fight America's attempts to extradite them?

The so called 'Enron 3' and Gary McKinnon, the computer hacker accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers, are just some of those to have strenuously fought attempts to extradite them.

Extradition arrangements between the UK and the US are governed by the Extradition Act 2003. Agreed in the aftermath of 9/11 it has proved to be highly controversial.

Alun Jones QC is one of the top extradition lawyers in the UK. He explains how the system worked prior to the new act and how he thinks the new system is unbalanced. And Bruce Zagaris, an attorney in international criminal law in Washington, explains how where a defendant ends up getting tried can lead to some truly startling differences in sentencing.