idiggory wrote:
So I guess the whole thing is moot? The UK isn't going to arrest someone they consider to be a sovereign of another nation. And even if they don't think he is, they aren't going to go against the EU, which does.
While the likelihood is slim, UK law still has the power to arrest, try, and if guilty, convict foreign nationals - as evidenced by the legal warrants for the arrest of Pinochet & Mugabe - both thwarted by the protection of gub'ments who used diplomatic loop-holes to stymie such actions.
Zippi Livni (Israeli foreign minister) recently cancelled a trip to London when a London Council successfully called for an arrest warrant over her involvement in the Lebanese invasion and incursions into Palestine (or summink like that).
A legal rout is moot. In Ratzinger's case we should just make sure that on his imminent visit to the UK, abuse victims are allowed to stand at the front waving "I was repeatedly raped as a child by your colleagues and you covered it up" banners.