A study on the effectiveness of extradition within the ASEAN region


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A study on the effectiveness of extradition
within the ASEAN region

• Ciara Henshaw

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Extradition

• The formal surrender by one state at the request
  of another of a person accused or convicted of an
  offence committed within the jurisdiction of the
  requesting state
• A key tool to fight crime
• Ensures a person cannot evade justice simply by
  crossing borders

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Association of South East Asian Nations

• Member Countries

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Why is there a need for effective extradition in
the ASEAN region

• Increase in transnational crime
• Many ASEAN countries are transit hubs
• To ensure that criminals cannot evade justice
  simply by crossing borders.
• To effectively combat domestic and transnational
  crime including terrorism with appropriate
  safeguards.

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Extradition legislation
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Extradition relationships within the ASEAN region
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Comparison of key aspects of extradition
legislation
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Obstacles to effective extradition

• Weak/outdated extradition laws and treaties
• Lack of criminality (e.g. people smuggling
  pre-cursors)
• Circumvention of extradition process
• Communication and coordination problems between
  domestic agencies and between States
• Burdensome evidentiary requirements of Requested
  States that are not familiar to or well
  understood by Requesting States
• Countries have widely differing preconditions for
  granting extradition
• Non-extradition of nationals
• Length complexity cost and uncertainty of
  extradition process
• Lack of awareness of national/international
  extradition law and practice
• Language translated extradition requests and
  attached materials are costly usually done under
  tight deadlines and prone to critical
  interpretation errors

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Next steps

• Develop an appropriate model for more effective
  extradition in the region
• Key issues to be considered
• What are the characteristics and critical success
  factors of other regional schemes
• What would be the critical success factors and
  essential characteristics of a more effective
  extradition scheme in the ASEAN region
• Are there any regional characteristics that may
  inhibit the operation of such a scheme in the
  ASEAN region
• Are there any other initiatives which may
  increase the effectiveness of extradition in the
  ASEAN region