Last Friday, retired businessman Christopher Tappin learned that he had lost a High Court battle to resist his extradition to Texas on charges of conspiring to export goods for use in Iran’s missile programme. Several hours later, Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that Sheffield University student Richard O’Dwyer could be extradited to New York to face charges of copyright infringement arising from his former website, which linked users to pirated films and TV shows.
These two judgments have again focused minds on the vexed issue of the UK-US extradition treaty. Two questions were asked repeatedly on news channels around the UK. Is the treaty fair and balanced? And if not, how should it be reformed?
