HomeWho is responsible for extradition?
Extradition is the responsibility of the government of the country receiving the request — usually its Ministry of Justice, prosecutor’s office, or a specialized extradition unit — which grants or denies the request through a judicial process.
The requested country’s authorities decide whether to surrender an individual, and this decision is made through formal judicial proceedings that assess the legality and justification of the extradition request. International legal mechanisms — including diplomatic channels and, in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights — can also play a role in these cases.
How responsibility is divided in the United States
In the U.S., extradition responsibility is spread across several federal (and sometimes state) bodies, depending on whether the case is international or interstate:
- Department of State — handles diplomatic correspondence with foreign governments and makes the final surrender decision, acting through the Secretary of State or the Office of the Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence.
- Department of Justice (DOJ) — reviews the legal sufficiency of incoming and outgoing requests through its Office of International Affairs (OIA) and represents the U.S. government in extradition proceedings.
- Federal courts — magistrate and district judges review the evidence, hold probable-cause hearings, and issue certifications of extraditability.
- U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) — arrests fugitives and physically transports or escorts them once extradition is approved.
- State and local authorities — handle interstate extradition when a fugitive is transferred between U.S. states rather than between countries.
