The UK risks becoming a "safe haven" for foreign criminals if it votes to opt out of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system, senior judges have said.
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph 40 legal figures said voting for the EAW "was a vote for security" and "effective criminal justice".
The UK has opted out of all 133 EU justice laws, but ministers want to retain 35, including the EU warrant.
The EAW allows police to quickly extradite suspects between EU states.
The letter - which is signed by Lord Phillips, who served as president of the Supreme Court - said: "There is no credible alternative to the EAW."
The UK has to decide by 1 December whether to continue to adhere to the EU criminal justice and law enforcement measures under the terms of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.
Liberty 'threatened'A vote on whether the UK should retain the arrest warrant policy is due next week, but Prime Minister David Cameron - who has promised a vote on the subject before the Rochester and Strood by-election on 20 November - is facing a potential backbench rebellion over the issue.
Some Tory MPs reportedly feel uneasy about the issue, and believe the warrant is a threat to the liberties of Britons and the sovereignty of the UK.
They argue there are other ways around the extradition issue, which under the EAW means UK suspects are often extradited on spurious grounds, they claim.
But the letter to the newspaper puts forward a different view.
It says: "Britain can only lead reform of Europe's criminal justice co-operation by being part of the system.
"Britain also risks becoming a safe haven for fugitives from justice, a handful of them British citizens, but the vast majority foreign nationals wanted for crimes elsewhere in Europe."
European Arrest Warrants- The European Arrest Warrant operates EU-wide and replaced separate extradition arrangements between the EU member states
- It was introduced in January 2004, and was prompted by the international anti-terror drive after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States
- A national judicial authority, such as a court, can issue an EU warrant to get a suspect extradited
- For a warrant to be valid, the suspect must be accused of an offence incurring a maximum penalty of at least a year in prison, or must have been already sentenced to at least four months in prison
The letter also references the cases of Hussain Osman, who was convicted after trying to repeat the July 7 terror attacks in London, and Jeremy Forrest, a teacher who was jailed for abducting a schoolgirl.
"Without the EAW other EU members may be unable speedily to extradite suspects like Hussain Osman or Jeremy Forrest to Britain - both in jail after use of the EAW. Unsurprisingly, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) believes we cannot afford to lose it," the letter says.
Law Society president Andrew Caplen and Sir David Edward, a former European Court of Justice judge, have also signed the letter along with Lord Justice Sir Henry Brooke.
BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said Labour and the Liberal Democrats will support the warrant at the vote, and therefore it is likely to pass despite any rebellion from backbench Tories.
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