All countries maintain a strong interest in protecting their citizens and residents, from the criminal actions of others. Likewise, all countries have a strong interest in prosecuting and punishing those persons who commit crimes against their citizens. Sometimes, the person who commits the crime leaves the country where the crime was committed and goes to another country.
Similarly, a country who is being asked to surrender one of their citizens (the 'requested' country) has an interest in being sure that the person being sought by the 'requesting country', was actually the person charged, that a crime actually was committed, and that the extradition request meets all requirements of the applicable laws and treaties.
Through international treaties, the United States and other cooperating nations have created a way for the 'requesting' country to ask the 'requested' country to order the perpetrator be returned to the country where the crime occurred. The United States has utilized such treaties since 1795; and, such extradition treaties remain to this day the most common tool among nations for the surrender of individuals accused of crime, and who are now beyond the jurisdiction of the 'requesting' country. A Treaty between two countries has the same effect as a law, passed by the legislature of the country.
Increasingly, extradition requests have sought to establish jurisdiction over cases based on the protection of a particular governmental interest; the location where the crime was intended to have its primary effect; and, the nationality of either the victim or the perpetrator.
The request for extradition by a 'requesting' country whose laws substantially differ from that of the 'requested' country often present moral and ethical dilemmas for the country responding to such a request. The laws of the 'requesting' country may, for example, promote the death penalty as an appropriate punishment while the 'requested' country may believe that the death penalty is an immoral and unacceptable form of punishment, regardless of the crime.
To clarify each nation's position in regards to the extradition of persons to, or from their country, a formal agreement between the two nations is approved by the government of each country. These agreements, called 'Treaties', are governed by international law; and, include language detailing the terms, conditions, requirements and procedures under which the 'requesting' and 'requested' countries will be able to extradite someone in their country, or request that someone in another country be extradited back to their country.
