Is the extradition of a person a discretional choice of a state?
<p>So, say someone commits murder in state A, then flees to state B. State A requests the extradition of the murderer.</p>

<p>Does state B, in lack of any treaties governing the subject, by the power of customary international law owe any obligation to state A to extradite the murderer? Can they deny it? Can they just omit the extradition and not do anything?</p>

<p>In general, when a country is requested to extradite a person to another country, the source country has discretion on whether to comply or not. If there is a treaty to which both countries are parties (whether bilateral or multilateral), its terms will normally be followed, but not always. A country can, after all, denounce a treaty and cease to be bound by it at any time, and the other party can only use what diplomatic or economic influence it has, possibly including retaliation or in an extreme case, actual war. </p>

<p>There is generally a detailed procedure to follow when one country requests another to extradite a person, and if it is not followed exactly, the request may be denied. </p>

<p>Other reasons why a request to extradite may be denied include:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Most countries will only extradite people charged with offenses which are also crimes in the source country.</p></li>
<li><p>Many countries will decline to extradite anyone who might face the death penalty in the requesting jurisdiction. </p></li>
<li><p>Some countries will not extradite for petty crimes. Different countries will have different rules about this.</p></li>
<li><p>Some countries will not extradite for "political" crimes. Each such county has its own definition of such cases. </p></li>
<li><p>Some countries will not comply with any extradition requests unless a treaty with the requesting country is in force.</p></li>
<li><p>Most countries will not extradite someone already acquitted of the accusation. </p></li>
<li><p>Many countries will listen to evidence that the accusation is a case of mistaken identity, and refuse to extradite if convinced by such evidence. </p>

<ul>
<li>Some countries, notably Russia, have constitutional or other legal prohibitions on extraditing their own citizens.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

criminal-law international