In this section information will be given on legislation and international agreements concerning extradition.

Extradition between the Member States of the Council of Europe
Extradition within the European Union
Legislation
Multilateral Conventions
Bilateral Agreements

The statutes mentioned are found at the address www.finlex.fi/en.

General notions

Extradition deals with the removal of a person suspected or convicted of an offence from the state of capture to the state seeking his extradition.

Extradition varies to some extent between countries owing to different regional arrangements. Regional arrangements have been concluded between Nordic countries, Member States of the European Union and between Member States of the Council of Europe.

The Extradition Act provides for extradition to and from Finland. The law contains only a few provisions on extradition to Finland since the obligation of a foreign country to extradite is provided for in the appropriate international instrument and/or in the domestic legislation of that particular country.

In the absence of an international obligation Finland may extradite a person on the basis of its internal legislation. In that case, however, extradition is discretionary.

Legislation and international instruments

Extradition between the Nordic Countries takes place on the basis of uniform legislation. As to Finland, the applicable provisions are to be found in the Act on Extradition between Finland and Other Nordic Countries.

The Member States of the Council of Europe apply the European Convention on Extradition.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union adopted in 2002 the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and Surrender Procedures between the Member States of the European Union. The Framework Decision obliges Member States to harmonise their legislations as indicated therein. Every Member State has by now implemented the Framework Decision. In Finland the instrument of implementation, that is the Act on Extradition between Finland and the Other Member States of the European Union, entered into force on 1 January 2004.

The Framework Decision replaces previous extradition arrangements within the European Union.

In Finland the Central Authority foreseen in various international agreements is the Ministry of Justice. In Nordic Extradition the corresponding role falls on the Ministry of the Interior. Also the National Bureau of Investigation, Supreme Court, District Courts and the prosecutors take part in extradition procedures.

Content

Extradition requires the existence of certain minimum requirements like, for example, the gravity of the alleged offence, length of the sentence passed and dual criminality.

Dual criminality presupposes that the alleged offence be punishable in both countries. In addition, the maximum penalty in both countries has to be of a certain duration, usually at least one year. When the request concerns extradition for the execution of a sentence, the remaining sentence also has to be of certain length, usually at least four months.

Grounds for refusal deal, among other things, with the extradition of own nationals, political offences and personal circumstances. Finland extradites its own nationals only to the Member States of the European Union and to other Nordic Countries.

As a result of extradition proceedings a suspect/defendant or sentenced person is transferred to the country seeking extradition. The extradition decision binds the authorities of that country. An extradited person may be prosecuted, punished or deprived of his/her liberty only on account of the offences for which extradition was granted (rule of speciality). Hence, in these instances extadition restricts the power of a sovereign state to administer justice in its own jurisdiction.

In case the authorities of the requesting state want to prosecute an extradited person for other offences than those on the basis of which he/she was extradited, a consent of the requested state is to be acquired.

Within the European Union the rule of speciality has been dispensed with to a large extent. It has not, however, become totally obsolete.

Updated on 5 April 2006