Extradition
EXTRADITION....
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Extardition means the surrender of fugitive offender by one
state to another in which the offender is liable to be
punished or has been convicted. The law of extradition is
founded upon the broad principle that it is to the interest of
civilized communities that crimes, acknowledged to be
such, should not go unpunished, and it is part of the comity
of the nations that one state should afford to another every
assistance towardsbringing persons guilty of such crimes
to justice.
Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties.
Where extradition is compelled by laws, such as among
sub-national jurisdictions, the concept may be known more
generally as rendition.
The consensus in international law is that a state does not
have any obligation to surrender an alleged criminal to a
foreign state as one principle of sovereignty is that every
state has legal authority over the people within its borders.
Such absence of international obligation and the desire of
the right to demand such criminals of other countries have
caused a web of extradition treaties or agreements to
evolve; most countries in the world have signed bilateral
extradition treaties with most other countries.
The refusal of a country to extradite suspects or criminals
to another may lead to international relations being
strained.
Often, the country to which extradition is refused will
accuse the other country of refusing extradition for political
reasons (regardless of whether or not this is justified). A
case in point is that of Ira Einhorn, in which some US
commentators pressured President Jacques Chirac of
France, who does not intervene in legal cases, to permit
extradition when the case was held up due to differences
between French and American human rights law.