How UK-US extradition works
12 Jul 2006
Following the recent case of the Natwest bankers, who are being extradited to the US under a treaty - ratified only by the UK - which was designed to deal with terrorists and despite the crime they are alleged to have committed taking place in the UK, DeadBrain has produced the following guide to the extradition system.
Extraditing from the US to the UK
After a detailed written application has been made by the UK, authorities in the US consider the case thoroughly. If they can answer ‘yes’ to any of the following questions, the extradition process will be halted. If they can answer ‘no’ to all of the questions, the suspect may be extradited if the person in charge is having a good day and nobody else will notice.
- Has the person got a beard?
- Has the person got any unpaid parking fines?
- Is the person anyone important?
- Is the person friends with anyone important?
- Has the person ever met the President?
- Is the person American?
Extraditing from the UK to the US
The US rings up and asks. The UK asks if the person in question is suspected of terrorist offences and if there is any evidence to support the claim that the person has committed a crime. The table below is used to determine what will happen to the person.
|Some evidence||No evidence|
|Could be a terrorist||The UK puts the person on the next flight out.||The UK puts the person on the next flight out.|
|Definitely not a terrorist||The UK puts the person on the next flight out.||The UK puts the person on the next flight out.|