EU court plan 'infringes UK legal rights'

British subjects could be convicted in their absence in foreign courts under EU plans, it emerged today.

The proposals, which were slammed by the Tories, would also allow Britons to be extradited automatically under fast-track procedures at the request of another country. The plan has been approved by the European Parliament and will be considered by the Council of Ministers in the next three months.

It would allow courts to make judgments without defendants being present where they were imposing fines, when dealing with criminal offences carrying a custodial sentence and when issuing the European arrest warrant.

It could cover offences such as traffic transgressions, theft, shoplifting or fraud, up to assault or murder. People who had been accused in their absence would have the right to a retrial or the right of appeal when extradited.

Philip Bradbourn, the Tory justice and home affairs spokesman in the European Parliament, said: "It goes against one of the most fundamental corner-stones of British justice."