Feedback Back Back to  Home Page New Search
Englishaut dedere aut judicare
Frenchprincipe aut dedere aut iudicare
Spanishprincipio aut dedere aut judicare
Russianпринцип aut dedere aut judicare
Chinese 引渡或审判
مبدأ تسليم المجرم أو محاكمته؛ الالتزام بالتسليم أو المحاكمة
Cross-Ref judicare vel dedere
Note Eng Principle of international law under which States may be obligated to either extradite [dedere] an alleged offender or to try him in a court of law [judicare]. For example, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 placed an obligation on State parties to the conventions to either prosecute or extradite alleged offenders of the terms of the Conventions, applying the principle of aut dedere aut judicare.
Amnesty International in a 2001 publication stated that under this principle "a State may not shield a person suspected of certain categories of crimes. Instead, it is required either to exercise jurisdiction (which would necessarily include universal jurisdiction in certain cases) over a person suspected of certain categories of crimes or to extradite the person to a State able and willing to do so or to surrender the person to an international criminal court with jurisdiction over the suspect and the crime. As a practical matter, when the aut dedere aut judicare rule applies, the State where the suspect is found must ensure that its courts can exercise all possible forms of geographic jurisdiction, including universal jurisdiction, in those cases where it will not be in a position to extradite the suspect to another State or to surrender that person to an international criminal court.”

In 1995 M. Cherif Bassiouni and E.M. Wise, in Aut Dedere Aut Judicare: The Duty to Extradite or Prosecute in International Law, established a list of matters in international criminal law conventions that involved a duty to extradite or prosecute:

“(1) the prohibition against aggression, (2) war crimes, (3) unlawful use of weapons, (4) crimes against humanity, (5) the prohibition against genocide, (6) racial discrimination and apartheid, (7) slavery and related crimes, (8) the prohibition against torture, (9) unlawful human experimentation, (10) piracy, (11) aircraft hijacking and related offences, (12) crimes against the safety of international maritime navigation, (13) use of force against internationally protected persons, (14) taking of civilian hostages, (15) drug offences, (16) international traffic in obscene publications, (17) protection of national and archaeological treasures, (18) environmental protection, (19) theft of nuclear materials, (20) unlawful use of the mails, (21) interference with submarine cables, (22) counterfeiting, (23) corrupt practices in international commercial transactions and (24) mercenarism.”
    This catalogue has since come to seem non-exhaustive, predating as it does more recent counter-terrorism treaties and conventions on the suppression of transnational crimes.

    Aut dedere aut judicare is a modern adaptation of a phrase used by the seventeenth century Dutch jurist and scholar Grotius: aut dedere aut punire. Grotius -- a.k.a., Hugo, Huigh or Hugeianus De Groot -- is best known for his 1625 legal treatise De Jure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace).  

    Variant: the “extradite or prosecute” principle

    Used in various phrases: principle of aut dedere aut judicare; aut dedere aut judicare basis; on a basis of aut dedere aut judicare; aut dedere, aut judicare principle

    Related phrases (or formulae) used to describe the obligation in question [see A/CN.4/571, paragraphs 5, 7 and 28]: judicare aut dedere; aut dedere aut prosequi; aut dedere, aut judicare, aut tergiversari(literally: to hand over, to prosecute, or to shuffle and find excuses). At the enforcement level, at times reference is made to the option of the enforcement of foreign criminal sentences under the principles aut dedere aut punireand aut dedere aut poenam persequi.
    Note Frn Obligation imposée à l'État sur le territoire duquel se trouve l'auteur présumé d'un crime de l'extrader ou de le juger. En vertu de ce principe "extrader ou juger", l’Etat qui rejette une demande d’extradition est tenu ipso facto d’établir sa propre compétence en matière pénale même si l’infraction a été commise hors de son territoire.
    Note Rus правило aut dedere aut judicare
    E: (consulted Dec 2012);
    E (variant): A/60/980, paragraph 45 (e);
    E (Grotius): Encyclopædia BritannicaOnline: (consulted Dec 2012);
    F (definition): La Rosa, Dictionnaire de droit international pénal, 1998;
    F: "Migrations liées à la traite des femmes et à la prostitution", Conseil de l'Europe, 19 mai 2003, <> (consulté 15 avril 2009);
    S: ONUG - Términos Jurídicos (E-S) Sureda
    R: A/CN.4/549, para 133 (consulted 24 June 2009)
    R: RTS consulted 6 Dec 2012;
    A: A/CN.4/612, Title (26 March 2009);
    Subject international law, Latin