Plea Bargaining in UK Law

Using his home computer the appellant, through the internet, identified US Government network computers with an open Microsoft Windows connection and from those extracted the identities of certain administrative accounts and associated passwords.

In addition to making submissions about the likely length of any sentence in the United States, Mr Lawson also submits that the conditions of detention both before trial and after sentence raise human rights issues. He draws our attention to material provided by Amnesty and from American case law regarding the use of stun guns and the like against detainees in American prisons. We find nothing in all this to assist Mr McKinnon's case.

We agree with that analysis. Submissions similar to those advanced by Mr Lawson were advanced on behalf of the appellant in Bermingham. There, neither the fact that the appellants were United Kingdom nationals nor anything else about their circumstances brought them within the scope of exceptionality. We agree with Mr Summers that, if anything, the US links in the present case are stronger than they were in Bermingham and the UK links are weaker.

In the present case Mr McKinnon has been able to raise his human rights points in this Court in the context of his appeal against the decision of the District Judge. At that stage a challenge to a refusal of the Secretary of State to reconsider extradition on human rights grounds may arise (subject to the high threshold), albeit probably in judicial review proceedings rather than by way of statutory appeal.

Once an indication has been given, it is binding and remains binding on the judge who has given it, and it also binds any other judge who becomes responsible for the case. In principle, the judge who has given an indication should, where possible, deal with the case immediately, and if that is not possible, any subsequent hearings should be listed before him.

"There is no doubt in my mind that BCCI has centralised its management, control and operations in the City. This is a UK- based bank, with its White House encompassing two buildings fronting Leadenhall Street and three at the rear. There is absolutely no way that we should continue the pretence that Luxembourg are the prime supervisors.

Following service of the subpoena, Mr Norris instructed, through a "task force" he set up for the purpose, all Morgan entities involved in the price-fixing conspiracy to remove, conceal or destroy any documentary material, in particular Morgan's sales files in Europe, evidencing Morgan's involvement in the conspiracy. He also instructed the retention and concealment of certain documents to enable Morgan to continue monitoring the working of the conspiracy.