AutDedereAutJudicare (Extradite or Prosecute) Obligation- Whether a Duty Rooted in Customary International Law?
Dr. Usman Hameed

Abstract
Extradite or Prosecute (Autdedereautjudicare) obligation finds expression in nearly all Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime conventions and a number of UNSC resolutions as primary means to deny safe heavens to fugitive offenders. This led some scholars to claim that the duty has its roots in customary international law. The assertion has its implications for state cooperation in law enforcement. By asserting that autdedereautjudicare is embedded in customary international law, these scholars imply that the obligation becomes enforceable as soon as a fugitive arrives in the territory of a state party, whether or not any bilateral treaty exists between state of refuge and state of commission of crime. This paper suggests that autdedereautjudicare as contained in Counter- Terrorism and Organised Crime conventions still remains a bilateral and reciprocal undertaking, dependent on the existence of a bilateral treaty between cooperating states. There might be a number of crimes with respect to which the obligation may have assumed the character of an emerging norm of customary internationallaw; however, ‘treaty crimes’ do not fall under this category of crimes.

Full Text: PDF