THE EXTRADITION DESK · 50 COUNTRY FILES
Fighting extradition to the United States.
Treaty text starts the case. Arrest, local court, appeal, executive review, and surrender finish it. This is the full record.
WHAT COUNSEL CHECKS FIRST
The active paper. The country. The clock.
START WITH THE POSTURE
Which file is actually open.
01 · COUNTRY INDEX
Fifty jurisdictions. Fifty different files.
Latin America
Caribbean
North America
Europe
Central America
Middle East
Asia
Europe / Asia
No country files match that search.
02 · THE FLOW
One request. Several separate decisions.
Foreign request or urgent alert
A requesting government may seek provisional arrest before completing the formal package. The treaty fixes the channel, urgency standard, and filing deadline.
State and DOJ review
For an incoming U.S. case, State's L/LEI and DOJ's Office of International Affairs assess treaty and document requirements; the U.S. Attorney files the complaint.
Arrest and detention decision
A judge issues the U.S. arrest warrant. Bail is legally possible but governed by a strong presumption against release and the demanding special-circumstances doctrine.
Extradition hearing
The court tests identity, treaty coverage, extraditability, and the required evidentiary showing. It does not decide guilt.
03 · THE ISSUES
Where the case can turn.
ON THE RECORD
If an arrest or extradition request may be active
Treat the situation as time-sensitive, but do not assume an alert means surrender is automatic.
ON THE RECORD
The judge and Secretary of State do different jobs
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3184, the extradition judge determines whether the evidence is sufficient under the treaty and, if so, certifies extraditability and commits the person. Under §§ 3184 and 3186, the Secretary of State or authorized delegate makes the separate executive decision whether to issue a surrender warrant. A certification is therefore not itself the surrender order, while the Secretary ordinarily cannot surrender on a charge the court did not certify.
ON THE RECORD
What the extradition court usually tests
This is not a trial on guilt. Hearsay and authenticated foreign documents may be admissible under 18 U.S.C. § 3190. Defense evidence is often limited to evidence that explains or obliterates probable cause rather than contradicting the requesting state's case, with circuit-specific doctrine.
ON THE RECORD
Humanitarian, torture, health, and prison-condition claims
Treaty text and circuit law determine what the extradition judge may decide. Under the traditional rule of non-inquiry, anticipated treatment abroad is generally directed to the Secretary of State, who may consider humanitarian and foreign-policy matters and seek assurances. Judicial review of Convention Against Torture claims after the Secretary acts is contested and restricted; it should never be described as uniformly available or uniformly barred without identifying the controlling circuit and current precedent.
ON THE RECORD
U.S. citizenship is not a universal shield
Treaty text controls. Even when a treaty does not obligate the United States to extradite its citizens, 18 U.S.C. § 3196 permits the Secretary of State to surrender a U.S. citizen if the treaty's other requirements are met. Some requested states restrict surrender of their own nationals and may instead consider domestic prosecution.
04 · THE EXHIBITS
Claims tested against the rule.
Common claims corrected.
| Claim | Accurate rule | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| A Red Notice is an international warrant. | No. It is an INTERPOL request to locate and provisionally arrest based on a national warrant or court order; each country decides its legal effect. | Arrest authority must be identified under local law. |
| Extradition detention lasts 30 days. | No universal 30-day cap exists. Provisional-arrest document deadlines vary by treaty, often 30 days to three months. After U.S. commitment for surrender, § 3188 uses two calendar months, allows sufficient cause, excludes transport time, and case law addresses litigation-related timing. | Deadline analysis must start with the exact treaty and procedural event. |
| The judge orders extradition. | The judge certifies legal extraditability; the Secretary of State or delegate makes the final U.S. surrender decision. | Court litigation and State Department advocacy are distinct tracks. |
| No treaty means no return. | Treaty-based U.S. surrender is the general rule, with a narrow § 3181(b) exception. Other states may use domestic comity, and lawful deportation, expulsion, foreign prosecution, or later arrest in a treaty state may remain possible. | Treaty absence is not immunity. |
| The hearing decides innocence. | It is a limited extradition hearing, not a criminal trial. | The permitted defense proof and evidentiary rules are narrower than at trial. |
| U.S. citizens cannot be extradited. | Citizenship depends on treaty text, and § 3196 authorizes discretionary surrender when other treaty requirements are met. | Nationality must be analyzed, not assumed dispositive. |
Judicial track versus executive track.
| Issue | Extradition court | Secretary of State / executive branch |
|---|---|---|
| Treaty in force and offense coverage | Yes | Reviews request and may independently decline surrender |
| Identity and probable cause | Yes | Receives certified record |
| Guilt or innocence | No trial on guilt | No criminal trial |
| Political-offense treaty bar | Often a judicial issue under treaty and precedent | May also consider foreign-policy context |
| Humanitarian treatment and assurances | Often constrained by rule of non-inquiry | Primary decision-maker |
| Final physical surrender | Cannot order executive surrender | Issues or declines surrender warrant |
THE DISTINCTION
Treaty is not outcome. Arrest is not surrender.
Each stage has its own authority, record, deadline, and available challenge. Treating them as one event is how defenses get missed.
Put the actual documents in front of counsel →05 · QUESTIONS
The answers people need before the next border.
PANIC
Possibly, but not from rumor alone. Arrest may rest on a domestic warrant, a treaty-based provisional-arrest request, a formal extradition complaint, immigration authority, or local law implementing an INTERPOL alert. Counsel should verify the operative instrument and court docket rather than rely only on a public Red Notice search.
Travel can expose a person to border screening and different national arrest rules. There is no globally safe answer and this page gives no evasion advice. Obtain individualized advice about the actual notice, national warrant, immigration status, release conditions, and each relevant jurisdiction before making travel decisions.
Provide required identifying information, ask the legal basis for custody, request counsel and an interpreter, and avoid discussing the accusation until advised. Do not sign a waiver or consent to surrender without understanding its consequences, including specialty and immigration consequences.
Bail is possible but not governed like ordinary federal criminal bail. Wright v. Henkel established that bail should not ordinarily be granted in foreign extradition, and lower courts generally require both acceptable flight/danger facts and special circumstances. Community ties alone are usually insufficient.
AUTHORITIESS8
No. A treaty may require the formal papers within 30, 40, 45, 60, or 90 days after provisional arrest. Release for missing that deadline may not bar later rearrest after a complete request. Separately, 18 U.S.C. § 3188 concerns two calendar months after commitment for rendition, permits continued custody for sufficient cause, and has generated case law on stays and litigation. The exact clock must be calculated from the governing instrument.
FIGHT
Potential issues include jurisdiction, treaty status, identity, authentication, dual criminality or list coverage, limitations language, probable cause, political-offense and other treaty exceptions, prior proceedings, nationality provisions, and compliance with the provisional-arrest clause. Availability depends on the exact treaty and controlling circuit.
The extradition court does not conduct a trial. Courts often admit explanatory evidence that negates or obliterates probable cause while excluding merely contradictory evidence, but formulations differ by circuit. Counsel should build the record around admissibility as well as factual strength.
Some treaties bar extradition for a political offense, while modern treaties exclude specified violent conduct from that exception. Political motivation does not automatically convert an ordinary-law offense into a political offense. The treaty, offense-conduct test, requesting-state context, and circuit precedent control.
AUTHORITIESS6
These facts can be important, but the forum matters. Treaty-based humanitarian clauses may be judicially relevant; otherwise the rule of non-inquiry often channels treatment and foreign-policy issues to the Secretary. Submit a documented record to State while preserving any court claim available under current circuit law. Medical issues may also affect custody and transfer logistics without resolving extraditability.
There is no reliable universal timeline. Urgent provisional arrest may occur quickly, while document preparation, hearings, habeas litigation, executive review, domestic charges, appeals abroad, and transfer coordination can take months or years.
AUTHORITIESS4
The treaty's rule of specialty generally restricts prosecution or punishment after surrender to approved offenses, subject to treaty exceptions, consent, waiver by the surrendering state, later conduct, and standing doctrine.
AUTHORITIESS4
06 · SOURCES
Primary authority first.
SECURE CONSULTATION REQUEST
Put the actual extradition record in front of counsel.
Tell us whether this is an inquiry, Red Notice, detention, hearing, or appeal. The intake team will identify conflicts and the right next step. Urgent custody and hearing matters should call.
212 300 5196 - urgent matters →