Blair Administration Introduces Bill to Simplify Extradition

On November 14, 2002, the Blair Administration introduces new legislation to modernize its extradition legislation to cover tax and customs matter. The bill incorporates the European arrest warrant in British law, meaning that the requirement that the requesting state must show ?probable cause? will be eliminated and the average time taken to extradite between Britain and the rest of Europe should be cut from eighteen months to just three. Persons who have committed tax crimes and leave the UK hoping to escape their liabilities will be brought back to stand trial under a new extradition bill published the first week of November. If the parliament approves the bill, it will come into effect in 2004.