Extradition - extradition

Extradition, also known as extradition of a fugitive, is the process of delivering a person who has violated the laws of a country or who has been convicted of a crime to a foreign country for prosecution or punishment in response to a request for extradition from a foreign country, usually made through diplomatic procedures, when the person is residing in that country. It is one example of forced departure. Typically, it applies to "fugitive" criminals who have fled the country from their home country where the crime was committed, but this "fugitive" means that they have not yet been tried or punished, and does not necessarily mean that they have fled the country.

Under current international law, it cannot generally be said that a country has an obligation to extradite criminals; it is up to the country whether or not to extradite them, and even if a request for extradition is received, the country may allow the criminal to remain in its own country without extraditing him or her to the requesting country. However, as crimes become more internationalized and criminals become easier to flee from a country, the extradition of fugitive criminals is generally considered desirable as an example of international cooperation, and is actually carried out under domestic extradition laws or as an international comity, even when there is no specific obligation to extradite under a bilateral treaty such as the Japan-US Extradition Treaty.

The specific crimes that are subject to extradition are determined by each individual treaty, but usually they are limited to relatively serious crimes that are commonly recognized in both countries; this is known as the principle of mutual punishment.

However, extradition is not permitted for political crimes, which is known as the principle of non-extradition for political offenders. Political crimes are usually divided into purely political crimes and relative political crimes, and there is some debate about the application of this principle to those who have committed relative political crimes, which are ordinary crimes that are morally or socially reprehensible in connection with the violation of political order. Many countries have adopted the Belgian Clause or the Perpetrator Clause, which states that acts that harm foreign heads of state or their families are not considered political crimes.

Those who can be extradited as criminals are usually limited to persons who are nationals of the requesting country or a third country, and many countries have adopted the principle of not extraditing their own nationals; this is known as the principle of non-extradition of nationals.

In principle, the country that receives the extradition is the country where the crime was committed, but if there are multiple requesting countries, the person is often extradited to the country that made the request first. A recent trend is that an increasing number of countries are refusing to extradite to countries that still retain the death penalty. Those who are extradited will be tried and punished only for the crime that led to the extradition, and will not be punished for any other crimes, even if they have committed other crimes. This is generally known as particularism.

[Kentaro Serida]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

犯罪人引渡しは逃亡犯罪人引渡しともいい、一国の法に触れた者または有罪判決を受けた者が自国内に滞在している場合に、通常、外交手続を経て行われる外国の引渡請求に応じて、訴追または処罰のためにこの外国に引き渡すことであり、強制的出国の一つの場合である。典型的には、犯罪地である本国から国外逃亡した「逃亡」犯罪人が対象となるが、この「逃亡」はいまだ裁きや処分を受けずにいることを意味し、かならずしも国外逃亡している意味ではない。

　現行国際法上は、一般に国家に犯罪人引渡しの義務があるとはいえず、引き渡すかどうかは国家の自由であり、引渡請求を受けても、請求国に引き渡さず自国に滞在を認めることができる。しかし、犯罪が国際化し犯罪人の国外逃亡が容易になるとともに、逃亡犯罪人の引渡しは、国際協力として一般に望ましいことと考えられ、日米犯罪人引渡条約のような二国間の条約で引渡義務をとくに負っている場合以外でも、犯罪人引渡しに関する国内法により、あるいは国際礼譲として、実際に行われている。

　引渡しの対象となる犯罪については具体的には個々の条約が定めるが、比較的重罪に限り、しかも、双方の国で共通に犯罪と認められるものに限るのが普通であり、これを双方可罰の原則という。

　しかし、政治犯罪については引渡しが認められず、これを政治犯罪人不引渡しの原則という。政治犯罪は、通常、純粋の政治犯罪と相対的政治犯罪とに分けられ、政治的秩序の侵害に関連して、道義的または社会的に非難さるべき普通犯罪が行われる相対的政治犯罪を犯した者に対するこの原則の適用については争いがある。なお、外国元首やその家族に危害を加える行為は政治犯罪とみなさないというベルギー条項または加害条項が多くの国によって採用されている。

　犯罪人として引き渡されるのは、通常、請求国または第三国の国籍を有する者に限られ、自国民は引き渡さないという原則が多数の国によって採用されており、自国民不引渡しの原則とよばれる。

　引渡しを受ける国は、犯罪の行われた犯罪地国を原則とするが、複数の請求国がある場合には、先に請求した国に引き渡すことが多い。最近の傾向として、死刑存置国には引き渡さないとする国が増えている。引き渡された者は、引渡しの理由となった犯罪についてのみ審理・処罰され、それ以外についてはほかに犯罪があっても処罰されることはない。これを一般に特定主義という。

［芹田健太郎］

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