Key Principles of Extradition — KSLU Pil Notes
Key Principles of Extradition
| Principle | Meaning | Case/Example |
|---|---|---|
| Double Criminality | Act must be a crime in both States | Drug trafficking must be an offence in both |
| Political Offence Exception | Pure political offences not extraditable | Re Castioni (1891) — act incidental to uprising |
| Specialty Rule | Only tried for the offence named in the request | Cannot extradite for fraud and try for murder |
| No extradition of nationals | Many States refuse to hand over own citizens | India, France, Germany follow this rule |
| Non bis in idem | No extradition if already tried for same act | Double jeopardy protection |
| Human Rights bar | No extradition if torture, death penalty, or unfair trial likely | Soering v. UK (ECHR, 1989) — death row phenomenon |
Political Offence Exception — Narrow vs Broad View
| View | Scope | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow | Only acts incidental to a political uprising | Re Castioni (1891) — Castioni Test |
| Broad | Any act with a political motive | Older Swiss approach — largely abandoned |
| Modern | Terrorism, war crimes, genocide excluded — never political | UN Counter-terrorism conventions |