Libya last week turned over for trial two suspects in the murder of 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The move comes after ten years of investigation by the United States, Great Britain and other countries, seven years of United Nations sanctions barring trade and air travel with Libya and freezing its overseas assets, and months of diplomatic wrangling over the venue for the trial and choice of law. Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, two suspected former members of Libya’s intelligence service, will stand trial in the Netherlands. The trial will be conducted, and the verdict decided, by three Scottish judges under Scottish law.
What did the defendants gain by accepting Scottish law over the laws of the United States?
