The Obligation Aut Dedere Aut Judicare
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THE OBLIGATION AUT DEDERE AUT JUDICARE (‘EXTRADITE OR PROSECUTE’) IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: SCOPE, CONTENT, SOURCES AND APPLICABILITY OF THE OBLIGATION ‘EXTRADITE OR PROSECUTE’ by STOYAN MINKOV PANOV A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) Birmingham Law School University of Birmingham University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. January 2016 ABSTRACT The thesis focuses on the scope, content, sources and applicability of the obligation aut dedere aut judicare pertaining to certain international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, the prohibition of torture, drug trafficking, hijacking of civil aviation and terrorist bombing and financing of terrorism in international law. The general framework of the thesis focuses on the legal base of the obligation aut dedere aut judicare, the scope and content of the obligation, the triggering mechanisms of the duty, and state responsibility for breaches of the obligation. The relevant core crimes and transnational crimes are examined in relation to the obligation, based on and formulated in various multilateral, widely-ratified conventions and state practice. State practice and opinio juris indicate that a customary aut dedere aut judicare duty has formed or crystallized for certain international crimes such as the prohibition of torture, genocide, grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, and crimes against humanity. As regards the offences against the safety of civil aviation and hijacking, terrorism-related crimes, international drug trafficking, and crimes against UN personnel, the evidence is mixed and it is more appropriate to conclude that an emerging custom of the obligation ‘extradite-or- prosecute’ for these crimes is forming. DEDICATION To my parents and my brother to whom I owe everything. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am highly indebted to my supervisors Professor Robert Cryer and Dr Alexander Orakhelashvili whose invaluable guidance, expertise in international law and advice allowed me to develop and finish this doctoral thesis. I thank them both warmly for all the help and support during my stay at the University of Birmingham. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Professor Patrick Capps of University of Bristol and Dr Bharat Malkani of University of Birmingham for their comments on my conversation document at the beginning of my journey with this thesis. I am highly indebted to the Ph.D. examiners Dr Richard Burchill and Dr Adrian Hunt for their invaluable suggestions and recommendations. I am also thankful for the University of Birmingham for offering me funding to support my thesis endeavour. This doctoral thesis reflects my interest in public international law and international criminal law that I have developed during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at DePauw University, Georgetown University, Leiden University and Birmingham Law School, and professional experience at the ICTY. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends in Europe and the US for their support and assistance, for believing in me. I do not want to exclude anyone as you are too many to mention individually, but you know who you are. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER 1: THE OBLIGATION ‘EXTRADITE-OR-PROSECUTE’ AND THE FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMES THROUGH THE AGES………………………………………………………………………………………8 I. Introduction………………………………………………………………...8 II. Where It All Began: Vitoria, Gentili and Grotius ………………………11 1. Vitoria ………………………………………………………….....11 2. Gentili…………………………………………………………………..13 3. Grotius………………………………………………………………….15 III. Wolff and Vattel……………......................................................................18 1. Wolff………………………………………..........................................18 2. Vattel………………………………………………………………......20 IV. Aut Dedere Aut Judicare and Accountability in Modern Times…………..23 V. Conclusion………………………………………...……………………….30 CHAPTER 2: THE REGIME OF EXTRADITION AND PROSECUTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW………………………………………………………………35 I. Prosecution………………………………………………………………..36 1. The Obligation to Prosecute …………………………………….40 2. Complementarity and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare. ……………………....43 3. Genuine Investigation and Prosecution………………………………...49 4. Unwillingness…………………………………………………………..54 a. Shielding ……………………………………………………….55 b. Unjustified Delay………………………………………………58 c. Lack of Independence or Impartiality ………………………….65 5. Inability…………………………………………………………………68 a. Causes: Total or Substantial Collapse or Unavailability………..68 b. Effects…………………………………………………………..72 II. Relation between the Extradition and Prosecution Prongs.........................73 1. Core Crimes…………………………………………………………..74 a. Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions ………………...79 b. The Prohibition of Torture as a Principle of International Law and Torture as a War Crime and a Crime against Humanity……………………………………………………..80 c. Genocide ……………………………………………………..87 2. Transnational Crimes………………………………………………....89 III. The Aut Dedere Aut Judicare, Extradition and Types of Crimes…………96 1. The Principle Aut Dedere Aut Judicare in Widely Ratified Multilateral Conventions……………………………………………………………97 a. Genocide and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare ..……………………..98 b. War Crimes and the ‘Extradite-or-Prosecute’ Obligation……101 c. Torture and the ‘Extradite-or-Prosecute’ Obligation………...105 d. ICAO Conventions and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare ………..…107 e. The International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare…………………….…110 f. Crimes against Humanity…………………………………....112 g. Drug Trafficking ………………………………………….....114 IV. Requirement for Criminalization of Offences, Preliminary Inquiry, Criminal Cooperation, Universal Jurisdiction, and the Principle Aut Dedere Aut Judicare……………………………………………………………………….…117 2. Universal Jurisdiction………………………………………………...121 V. Conclusion………………………………………………………………128 CHAPTER 3: HUMAN RIGHTS, EXTRADITION AND PROSECUTION……..130 I. Human Rights, Exceptions to Extradition, Obligation not to Extradite and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare…………………………………………………….130 1. Origins of the Political Offence Exception …………………………..131 a. International Crimes and the Political Offences Exception ….134 2. Right to a Fair Trial and In Absentia Exceptions……………………..141 a. Right to a Fair Trial ……………………………………….….142 3. Torture and Death Penalty as Bars to Extradition…………………….152 4. The Ne bis in Idem Limitation………………………………………...160 5. Exception to Extradition of State’s Own Nationals…………………...164 6. Human Rights and Alternatives to the Aut Dedere Aut Judicare Obligation……………………………………………………………......167 II. Procedural Extradition Requirements............................. ……………….169 1. Dual Criminality…………………………………………………….170 2. Specialty…………………………………………………………….174 3. Non-inquiry………………………………………………………....176 III. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………...178 CHAPTER 4: CUSTOMARY LAW AND THE AUT DEDERE AUT JUDICARE OBLIGATION…………………………………………………………………………180 I. Introduction……………………………………………………………..180 II. PART I: Relationship between Treaty and Custom…………………….184 1. Codification, Crystallization and Generation………………………...184 2. Methodology on Treaties, Custom and the Aut Dedere Aut Judicare Clause……………………………………………………………………191 III. PART II: The Customary Aut Dedere Aut Judicare Obligation………...202 1. International Minimum Standard: Early Vestiges of the Obligation Aut Dedere Aut Judicare……………………………………………………………………..202 2. Core Crimes and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare…………………………...206 a. The Prohibition of Torture………………..…………………...206 b. Genocide………………………………………………….…...224 c. Grave Breaches of the Customs of War and The Geneva Conventions ………………………………………………………………………..….233 d. Crimes against Humanity and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare………249 3. Transnational Crimes ………………………………………………...256 a. The Hague Formula and Safety of Civil Aviation…………....256 b. Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and Suppression of Financing of Terrorism …………………………………………………………...…...267 c. Drug Trafficking……………………………………………....276 d. Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons………………………………………………………………......283 IV. Conclusion………………………………………………………….…...285 CHAPTER 5: STATE RESPONSIBILITY AND AUT DEDERE AUT JUDICARE OBLIGATION………………………………………………………………………...287 I. Introduction……………………………………………………………..287 II. Internationally Wrongful Acts and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare..................287 III. Attribution of the Internationally Wrongful Act………………………..294 IV. Breach of the International Obligation ‘Extradite-or-Prosecute’…….....300 1. Assistance and Commission of the Breach………………………....306 V. Preclusion of Wrongfulness and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare Obligation…………………………………………………………….....311 1. Consent……………………………………………………………...311 2. Force Majeure……………………………………………………....313 3. Necessity…………………………………………………………....315 VI. Invocation of State Responsibility……………………………………...318 VII. Erga Omnes Obligations and Aut Dedere Aut Judicare………………..322 1. Is the Customary Obligation Aut Dedere