Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Keywords

Extradition, criminal prosecution, reform, international law, wrongful extradition, unjust extradition

Abstract

Extradition—the formal legal surrender between states of individuals sought for criminal prosecution or to serve a sentence—is an essential tool in the worldwide fight against cross-border  crime. In a time when the permeability of borders to criminal conduct has reached previously untold levels, the importance of effective international law enforcement cooperation has similarly intensified. Criminal investigation and enforcement powers can, for all practical purposes, only operate within national borders, but criminals themselves are not so constrained. Human trafficking, internet fraud, financial crime, wildlife trafficking—all are running rampant. All states, and their citizens, have a pressing interest in crime suppression, in which extradition plays a key role; in Canada we need only think of the cases of Luka Magnotta, Nicholas Ribic and Gerald Gallant to know that extradition is a process we need; and because criminals are so mobile, we need it to work well.

The authors of the articles in this issue have varying perspectives, but all agree on an essential point: Canada’s extradition laws and practices have significant problems that are producing unjust and wrongful extraditions, and must be reformed.

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