Germany–Brazil Extradition Treaty Negotiations

Current status

There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and Brazil. Negotiations on such a treaty have been ongoing since at least 2018 — without conclusion. The Federal Government confirmed this in its reply to a parliamentary question (BT-Drs. 19/3434 of July 11, 2018): “Negotiations on a bilateral extradition treaty are currently taking place.”

Historical background

An older Germany–Brazil extradition treaty from 1877 did not remain in force. It was never formally reactivated; according to information from the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz, BfJ) and the Federal Foreign Office, Brazil is regarded as treaty-free for extradition relations with Germany.

Legal consequence: extradition under the general IRG

In the absence of a treaty, extradition between Brazil and Germany is governed by the general provisions of the Act on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (IRG), in particular Sections 2 ff. IRG. The requirements include, among others, an assurance of reciprocity (Section 5 IRG) and the existence of dual criminality (Section 3 IRG).

Practical implications

In practice, the absence of a treaty leads to higher requirements as to the form and content of the extradition documents, as well as to expanded powers of review for the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG). In particular, human-rights and detention-conditions concerns may carry greater weight in a treaty-free relationship. The statistics of the Federal Office of Justice show that for the years 2014–2017 all Brazilian extradition requests were refused — a clear indication of the high hurdles involved.

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