Extradition of criminals in International Law and the impact of the political offence exception on fight against international terrorism

Extradition of criminals in international law and the impact of the political offence exception on fight against international terrorismThe subject of our thesis is to investigate the extradition of criminals and the political offence exception which is considered as an important component of the fight against terrorism.The purpose of thesis is to identify the impact of accepting terrorist activities as political offences by granting political refugee status to individuals who are suspected of having committed terrorist crimes and not to extradite them.Perhaps the most problematic issue for extradition cases involving acts of terrorism is the political offence exception. Many modern extradition treaties specifically exempt political offences from extradition, since liberal and democratic governments developed a strong antipathy toward the idea of surrendering dissidents into the hands of a despotic government. There are, however, no recognised criteria as to what constitutes a ?political? offence, nor is there a rule of international law prohibiting the extradition of political offenders. As a result, the decision whether to extradite rests on subjective criteria, as determined by the holding government. Accordingly, the bilateral extradition system can provide only partial remedies for bringing suspected international terrorists to justice. The consequence is that, while governments might agree that terrorist acts rise to being criminal offences against the international community, they allow suspected terrorists to evade criminal prosecution.260In our opinion, all crimes against life have to be excluded from the ?political? offence exception.As a result of our thesis the followings will be underlined. Firstly, countries have to put aside flawed arguments and narrow consideration of their interests and to develop a common understanding on extradition of criminals, as this can lead to a more effective fight against terrorism. Terrorist acts should be prosecuted in an international court which will be established by the international community on shared values. Secondly, extradition is vital to the enforcement of international legal rules and to the guarantee of respect for rule of law and order. Without political capability or legal means to extradite suspected criminal offenders to states where they can be subjected to investigation, prosecuted, convicted, and appropriately punished, those persons will remain at large, and continue to enjoy impunity.We believe that if suspected terrorists aware that wherever they go they can be caught and extradited or at least prosecuted and punished, this would lead to more effective suppression of terrorism.Key Words1. Criminal2. Extradition3. Terrorism4. Extradition of Criminals5. Political Offence