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American justice has nearly an extraterritorial reach in some serious criminal matters. Its possibilities to go after offenders in other jurisdictions vary from country to country. The U.S. has concluded extradition treaties with 116 countries. It is generally accepted that extradition is not an obligation of any country, and extradition is not automatically applied even when an extradition treaty is in force. Most extradition treaties preview that the predicate acts for which extradition is requested must be recognized as a crime in both the requesting and extraditing countries. Some treaties contain a narrow list of crimes for which extradition is possible or prohibited. Many countries support the U.S. sanctions regimes; they can criminalize the violation of such sanctions or at least extradite the offenders to the U.S.

Extradition is the transfer by one country to another of persons charged with criminal offenses, typically when the alleged crime has affected the requesting country. That is a discretionary matter of sovereign rights. Any country has the right to refuse extradition based on various grounds or motives. The transfer of a criminal may be mandatory only if there is a binding international treaty.

Most extradition treaties contain clauses on politically motivated cases. The requested country then has every right to refuse extradition. In extradition matters, countries are guided not by legal issues but foreign policy considerations. The nature of relations between countries plays a key role.

It can take years for local courts to process U.S. requests. Furthermore, violating the sanctions regime of the U.S. is not considered a crime in most countries. Nevertheless, the risk of being detained in a third country and extradited to the U.S. certainly exists in any situation. Cases of extradition to the U.S. for evading economic sanctions are still rare. However, new cases concerning the alleged circumvention of economic sanctions will grow.

Call our office for a consultation regarding your extradition matter.