[DEBATE] : UK - Lords bar extradition of cartel suspect

Thu Mar 13 08:29:09 GMT 2008

The despotism of monopolies...

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Lords bar extradition of cartel suspect

By Megan Murphy and Michael Peel

Published: March 12 2008 12:44 | Last updated: March 12 2008 12:44

The House of Lords has delivered a stinging blow to US efforts to crack 
down on international cartels by ruling that a British executive cannot 
be extradited to Pennsylvania for alleged price-fixing during the 1990s.

The decision in the long-running case of Ian Norris, the former chief 
executive of Morgan Crucible, is likely to safeguard dozens of other 
executives from extradition over long-dormant cartels in industries 
ranging from chemicals to art auctions.

The Law Lords unanimously ruled that while Mr Norris could still face 
extradition over allegations that he tried to obstruct a US federal 
investigation, he should not be sent abroad to stand trial on 
price-fixing charges when cartel activity was not specifically 
criminalised in the UK until 2003.

Under Britain’s contentious extradition arrangements with the US, 
suspects can be extradited only for conduct that is a crime in both 
jurisdictions at the time it was committed. Mr Norris is charged with 
participating in a global cartel on carbon products between 1989 and 2000.

As the UK had no specific anti-cartel offence until the 2002 Enterprise 
Act, US prosecutors had sought to classify Mr Norris’s alleged conduct 
as the English common law offence of conspiracy to defraud.

But the Law Lords ruled that while certain types of price-fixing 
behaviour – such as explicitly agreeing to deceive customers – could 
constitute fraud, Mr Norris was not charged with any “aggravating” conduct.

The landmark decision further prolongs a five-year legal battle between 
Mr Norris and US competition authorities, which have identified the 
former Morgan Crucible executive as one of their top targets.

Mr Norris would have been the first foreigner extradited to the US on 
price-fixing charges.

While the ruling will not substantially affect price-fixing prosecutions 
concerning conduct that transpired after the introduction of the 
Enterprise Act, lawyers said it delivered a strong message that there 
would be barriers to extradition requests.

US and UK prosecutors are considering bringing criminal charges against 
individuals involved in a transatlantic fuel surcharges cartel admitted 
last year by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Jo Rickards, a partner at Peters & Peters, a law firm, said: “This 
shakes the long-held perception of the [US] Department of Justice as 
being all-powerful in the area of global enforcement of anti-competitive 
behaviour.”

Mr Norris’s case will return to a magistrates’ court for a review of 
whether extraditing him on the obstruction of justice charges – which 
include document destruction and witness tampering – would violate his 
human rights, given that the main allegations against him have been 
knocked out.

Mr Norris’s lawyers vowed to continue to fight the case “every step of 
the way”, possibly delaying a final ruling for several years.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008