Aspects of Interstate Rendition and International Extradition

This is an examination of the return of persons from one U.S. state to another U.S. state, called properly rendition; and return of wanted persons from one sovereign nation to another sovereign nation, correctly entitled extradition. The only recent development in rendition, as found in the U.S. Constitution, has been making rendition a mandatory, no longer a discretionary, executive action. Extradition is an ancient concept within the law of nations, traditionally governed by the non-inquiry rule, a legal assumption that all judicial systems are equally fair. In recent years the non-refoulement rule has suggested that nations should not honor extradition requests when it is probable that the subject will be tortured. Some western democracies have extended that doctrine to include capital punishment.