Their argument has been very effective. Just how effective can be gauged from a measure passed by the European Parliament two weeks ago, which our own Government has just endorsed.

The new law would mean that no member state could refuse to extradite an individual sought by another member state - even if that individual had been given a heavy prison term after a trial at which he was not present, could not defend himself, and may not even have known about.

Isn't the right to defend yourself in person essential to a fair trial - and isn't that right so basic that it is enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights? Well, yes - but as the preamble to the new regulation states, the right itself is "not absolute". So EU bureaucrats, lawyers and parliamentarians have concluded that it can be dispensed with when doing so increases "efficiency".

And indeed, it is unquestionably very inefficient to have all those pesky protections for people who are accused of crimes. They prevent the state from convicting people swiftly and cheaply.

So the new EU regulation will sweep them all away: if you are found guilty in absentia by a court in another EU state, our Government will have no option but to extradite you to serve your prison sentence there.

Fair Trials International, a charity that reports on the standards of justice prevalent in other countries, has investigated the case of a Briton who was on holiday in Romania in 2004 and found himself being charged with having sexual relations with a minor. He was detained in Romania on that charge for three months. His alleged victim could not be traced and did not appear or give evidence at any court hearing. In November 2004, he was released and required to leave Romania within five days - which he did.

In March 2007, he received an email from the British embassy in Romania informing him that the Romanian courts had held a trial which had convicted him in absentia of sexual abuse. The court had sentenced him to seven years in prison - a sentence that had been confirmed on appeal. The Romanian government issued a European Arrest Warrant, and the British man was sent back to Romania. After another trial which lasted less than one hour, and at which the alleged victim was again not present, the seven-year sentence was confirmed. The Briton is now in prison in Romania - where he will stay until he has served his sentence.