FOREWORD

Extradition as one of the main instruments of inter-state cooperation in criminal matters implies the delivery up of an accused or sentenced person from one State to another for the purposes of prosecution or execution of punishment.

Extradition has significantly changed during more than last fifty years. Extradition is no longer an internal issue concerning only two States involved. The complicated problems in extradition process such as torture, death penalty, or in general sense, breach of the internationally recognized human rights, are of concern to the international community as a whole and may lead to the consideration of the issue of international responsibility of the State that has carried out extradition.

On the other hand, in spite of the appearance of new forms of international intercourse in the securing the criminal prosecution of accused, in particular, surrender of persons under the European Arrest Warrant, as well as surrender of accused to the International Criminal Court, extradition is still holding a dominant position in the international system of legal cooperation in criminal matters, since the possibility of using the said mechanisms (i.e. surrender of persons) despite their unquestionable importance are of limited nature.

It is well known that the procedures of surrender under the European Arrest Warrant apply only among the EU countries, and do not extend to the interrelationships of Member States to the Union with third countries. As far as surrender of accused to the International Criminal Court (hereinafter — ICC) is concerned, firstly, the scope of its activities covers only such crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In other words, the subject-matter jurisdiction of the ICC is confined solely to the above-mentioned crimes, and surrendered to the Court may be only persons accused of those offences in situations where the States themselves are unable or unwilling to prosecute the offenders. Secondly, given that the ICC operates on the basis of the complementarity principle, even in those cases, where the crimes formally falling under the jurisdiction of the Court are committed, the principal role in the prosecution of the accused will belong to States, which in appropriate circumstances will resort to the procedure of extradition in order to ensure that a fugitive offender stands trial. This once more illustrates the role and significance of extradition as one of the most important elements of the system of international cooperation in criminal matters, and has made it necessary to carry out the present research.

This monograph deals with the key issues of extradition theory and practice in a comparative context: the notion and essence of extradition, the rule of «double criminality», «specialty», the doctrine of «political offence exception».

XIV        Foreword

Significant consideration in the work has been given to the problem of «human rights exception» in extradition, in particular, to the impact on extradition of eventual application of death penalty, threat of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, discrimination, and to the securing of procedural safeguards to extradited persons. Special consideration has also been given to the issues related to forced abduction.

Furthermore, research has been undertaken into the problems of extradition related with the establishment of international criminal tribunals - issues of «inter-state cooperation» and «supra-state cooperation».

A separate chapter has been devoted to the problem of introduction of the European Arrest Warrant as a very important element of the reform of extradition within the European Union.

The author would be grateful for any comments on the problems dealt with in the monograph, which could be sent to the following e-mail addresses: <savarovn_a@hotmail.com>; <nizami.s@rambler.ru>.