European Convention on Extradition (ECE)

What is the ECE?

The European Convention on Extradition (Europäisches Auslieferungsübereinkommen, EuAlÜbk) of 13 December 1957 is a multilateral treaty of the Council of Europe, to which almost all European states are now party. It forms the classic basis in public international law for extradition between signatory states and takes precedence over bilateral law.

Relationship to the IRG and the EAW

Between EU member states, the ECE has largely been superseded by the European Arrest Warrant. For non-EU members of the Council of Europe — such as Switzerland, Turkey, Norway or Iceland — however, it remains the primary legal instrument. The IRG contains a conflict-of-laws rule in Section 1(3): treaty provisions take precedence over the IRG insofar as they make differing provisions.

Core provisions

The ECE governs the conditions for extradition (Articles 1–3), the treatment of political and military offenses (Articles 3–4), the principle of dual criminality (Article 2), the extradition of a state's own nationals (Article 6) and the rule of specialty (Article 14). Additional protocols of 1975 and 1978 extend and refine individual provisions.

Practical significance

In practice, the ECE is most relevant to requests from Turkey, Ukraine and other non-EU Council of Europe states. The review of admissibility is then governed by the ECE and, on a subsidiary basis, by the IRG. In such cases, particular attention should be paid to the political background of the request and to detention conditions in the requesting state.

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