In the Commons, Mr Grieve was asked whether he would give judges discretion to
allow cases such as Mr McKinnon’s to be tried in the UK.
Mr Grieve told the Commons: “That is touched on in Sir Scott Baker’s report
and it is one of the matters which will have to be taken into account when
the Government responds to it.
“His proposals are rather more in the nature of guidelines rather than the
implementation of the forum bar itself. That is one of the matters the
Government is going to have to consider.”
Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, said he disagreed
with the report’s conclusions on the standard of proof required to initiate
an extradition on either side of the Atlantic and called for reassurance
from the Attorney General.
He asked that the Government ensured that “proper account be taken of the
principle of reciprocity” so that Britons were not “at a constitutional
disadvantage in comparison to their American counterparts”.
Mr Grieve replied: “We’re going to have to take account of what he has put
forward and I hope you will make a contribution.”
Campaigners say that the 2003 Extradition Act, agreed between Britain and the
US in haste after the September 11 terrorist attacks 10 years ago, is
one-sided.
However, in his report last month, Sir Scott Baker ruled that it was not
slanted in favour of Americans.
Mr McKinnon, 45, was accused in 2002 of using his home computer to hack into
97 American military and Nasa computers, causing damage that the US
government claimed would cost more than $700,000 (£440,000) to repair.
He admits breaching the systems but denies causing damage and claims he was
looking for evidence of UFOs.
View full post on National Cyber Security » Computer Hacking