§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking with ministerial colleagues within the European Union to provide for EU nationals, and those ordinarily resident in an EU state, who are arrested and charged with particular offences, to be tried in their own state.
§ Mr. Nicholas BakerThe Government do not accept that trial in the state of nationality or the state of residence of the defendant is necessarily a desirable end in itself or that a person should he entitled to choose in which country to be tried. In principle, they believe that a person who offends against a country's laws should answer to those laws before the courts of that country and that, where necessary, extradition should be available to secure the presence of the defendant at the trial. In practice, moreover, that is where the evidence and the witnesses are most likely to be found.