An extradition request usually represents a great emotional burden and a legal challenge for those affected, which should not be faced under any circumstances without experienced legal support.
As a multidisciplinary, globally active law firm, Schlun & Elseven is your reliable partner to protect you from extradition effectively. We not only advise and represent clients who are to be extradited from or to Germany but also use all our expertise and many years of experience to obtain the removal of Interpol Red Notices – depending on the country from which they were initiated. If extradition proceedings are already pending against you or if you anticipate such action in the future, contact us immediately so that we can take appropriate countermeasures.
Extraditions between Canada and Germany are carried out following the provisions of the 1977 German-Canadian Extradition Treaty and its 2002 additional Protocol.
Extradition statistics from the Federal Office of Justice, which cover the years 2003 to 2020, show that one extradition from Canada to Germany was granted in 2020. The last approved extradition from Germany to Canada was recorded in 2015.
Extradition of German Citizens to Canada
Germany and Canada have determined that the mutual extradition obligation does not apply to their citizens, cf. Art. VI of the Agreement.
Conversely, the exception to the obligation means that own citizens may be extradited at the discretion of the respective state. In Germany, however, there is a constitutional prohibition of the extradition of their citizens, cf. Art. 16 II GG.
Extradition Requirements
According to the agreement, extradition can only be granted if the act in question is listed in the annexe to the agreement and constitutes an offence in both states, cf. Art. II of the Agreement.
In particular, extraditable offences under the German-Canadian extradition treaty are:
- Murder,
- bodily harm,
- sexual abuse/fornication,
- deprivation of liberty,
- robbery and
- documentary offences.
It does not matter that the offence falls under the same terminology in both states. It is also irrelevant whether the assessment of an act as a corresponding offence differs in Germany and Canada.
Concerning the statute of limitations of the respective offence, the time limits of the requesting state are relevant, cf. Art. VII of the Agreement. If an extradition request is made, the requesting authority can only refer to the time limits known to it and act accordingly.
Extradition Obstacles
The extradition treaty provides that extradition may be refused if it concerns a political offence or if the requested state believes that the person to be extradited is being persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality or political opinion or that their punishment would be rendered more difficult for one of these reasons, cf. Art. III of the Treaty. It should be noted that the refusal of extradition is always at the discretion of the requested state.
This is different in the case of purely military offences. If an extradition request is made for such an offence, it will not be granted, cf. Art. IV of the Treaty. In this case, there is a mandatory obstacle to extradition which may not be deviated from.
If the offence in question is punishable by death in the requesting state, extradition may be refused unless the death penalty is also threatened in the requested state. Extradition is to be granted if the requesting state assures that it will at least not carry out the death penalty, cf. Art. XI of the Treaty.
The death penalty has no longer been relevant in extraditions between Germany and Canada since 1989. Both states have abolished the death penalty altogether. At the time of ratification in 1977, the death penalty was still in use.
In addition to the treaty-based obstacles to extradition, other obligations under international law must be considered in extradition cases. Germany is bound by the ECHR, which prohibits, among other things, any torture and inhuman treatment, cf. Art. 3 ECHR. Accordingly, Germany may not grant extradition if there is a concrete suspicion that the person to be extradited would be subjected to such treatment.
There are no known reports of torture by the state. Various new laws have been passed to prevent discrimination against indigenous communities and homosexuals.
Poor prison conditions can also constitute an obstacle to extradition in the sense of Art. 3 ECHR. In 2020, there were reports of enormous overcrowding in Canadian prisons, especially in Thunder Bay Prison in Ontario. Hygiene standards were allegedly disregarded to the utmost, and medical treatment was hardly offered. Also, due to the extreme lack of staff, various cases of abuse occurred repeatedly, including violent confrontations between inmates, which ended fatally.
According to Art. 6 ECHR, every person has the right to a fair trial. Therefore, violations of the rule of law can stand in the way of extradition. In principle, Germany and Canada are oriented towards the rule of law, so a violation is regularly not to be expected.
Practice Group: German Extradition & Interpol Law
Practice Group:
Extradition & Interpol Law
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