Extradition is the procedure, under international criminal law, by which a person prosecuted or convicted of a crime under the law of one State is arrested in another State and surrendered by the latter to the requesting State for trial or, as the case may be, to serve a sentence already imposed.
Unless expressly waived, the principle of specialty applies, which means that the extradited person may be tried by the requesting State only for those facts that gave rise to the extradition.
Extraditions are carried out on the basis of international treaties -generally bilateral- and, in the absence of such treaties, on the principle of reciprocity.
In Spain, Law 4/1985, of March 21, 1985, on passive extradition is in force, which regulates the procedure applicable when a State requests the extradition of a person who is in Spain.
Within the European Union, the so-called European arrest warrant was created as the first legal instrument of the Union to apply the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions, thus speeding up the extradition process within the EU.
The requested person will often be arrested and sent to pre-trial detention until he/she is handed over to the foreign authorities. Therefore, the lawyer plays a very important role in the extradition procedure, performing all the legal-procedural actions necessary to defend the client and offering complementary services to the extraditable person and his family:
● Contact with embassies or other agencies to obtain information and/or assistance for the client and his/her family members.
● Carrying out various formalities in the penitentiary institution: organizing visits for family members, depositing money, submitting applications, retrieving personal belongings.
● Contact with lawyers in the requesting State to obtain information about the case and facilitate the preparation of the defense.
At Sánchez-Cervera Abogados we offer our clients all the necessary services to achieve an impeccable defense and advice during the extradition process. Our lawyers have a high level of English, which facilitates communication with foreign citizens detained in Spain for extradition proceedings, as well as with their families.
For more information, please contact us at the following link.
Documents of interest:
Spain – USA Extradition Treaty
Extradition Convention of December 13, 1957, ratified by Spain on April 21, 1982.
Spain – Australia Extradition Treaty
Spain – Canada Extradition Treaty
Latest extradition news
The National Court rejects the extradition of a Colombian hitman due to defects in the sentence in his country of origin.
In December 2022, the National Police arrested Johni Fernando Tenorio Millán, known by the alias O meu yuca, “one of Colombia’s most wanted fugitives,” in Pontevedra. He had been wanted under an international arrest and surrender warrant since 2007 in connection with several serious crimes, including the murder and torture of a person. The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) states that the arrested person is highly dangerous and has a pending sentence of sixty years in prison.
However, the Audiencia Nacional has denied his extradition, alleging the Colombian government’s failure to cooperate in submitting the requested documentation and defects in the sentence issued by the Colombian authorities.
You can read the complete article in the newspaper “La voz de Galicia” in the following link: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/pontevedra/2024/02/10/justicia-rechaza-extraditar-sicario-colombiano-arrestado-pontevedra/0003_202402P10C5991.htm
October 19, 2021
The Audienca Nacional rejects the request for provisional release of “El Pollo Carvajal” due to the high risk of flight.
The Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional (Third Section) has not granted the request of Hugo Carvajal (known as “El Pollo Carvajal”) to be provisionally released with the imposition of precautionary measures, as the judges of the Third Section considered that there was a high risk of flight, since Mr. Carvajal remained on the run for almost two years until he was finally arrested in Madrid last September 9.
Pollo Carvajal,” the former head of Venezuelan intelligence, is being held in provisional detention at Estremera Prison under an order from Spain’s Audiencia Nacional (National Court) following his arrest—pending a resolution on his asylum request—after the court’s magistrates temporarily suspended his extradition to the United States, where he faces charges for alleged drug and weapons trafficking.
You can read the full news story below, as published on Europapress.es
Update – October 22, 2022
The Criminal Division (Third Section) of Spain’s Audiencia Nacional (National Court) handling the case issued an order dated 10/21/2022 suspending the extradition of ‘El Pollo Carvajal’ to U.S. authorities due to a procedural error that must be rectified by the full Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional.
The procedural flaw was brought to light by the defense team of the extraditee, who noted that in a prior decision dismissing a motion to nullify the extradition proceedings, the Full Criminal Chamber of Spain’s National Court (Audiencia Nacional) stated it would later issue a separate ruling to determine whether to impose conditions on the surrender – such as prohibiting the United States from seeking life imprisonment in case of conviction. This supplemental ruling was never delivered, leading Mr. Carvajal’s defense to claim a violation of his right to effective judicial protection (tutela judicial efectiva). The Full Criminal Chamber must now rule on Carvajal’s requests to attach conditions to his extradition.
Simultaneously, the defense has filed an administrative appeal (recurso contencioso-administrativo) with the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court, challenging the Interior Ministry’s decision to deny asylum.
You can read the full story in its original publication at El Español newspaper: https://www.elespanol.com/espana/tribunales/20211022/audiencia-nacional-suspende-procesal-pollo-carvajal-eeuu/621438502_0.html
Updated: July 19, 2023
Spain’s National Court (Audiencia Nacional) has executed the extradition of ‘El Pollo Carvajal’ to U.S. authorities, who sought his surrender to stand trial for narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and collaboration with Colombia’s FARC.
Days earlier, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg upheld Spain’s National Court (Audiencia Nacional) decision to extradite ‘El Pollo Carvajal,’ despite defense objections. The ECHR found no conclusive evidence that U.S. courts would impose a life sentence, noting he could potentially be acquitted or negotiate reduced charges.
21 October 2022
Drug Trafficker Extradited from Dominican Republic to Spain
Spain has recently secured the capture and extradition of Javier Segura, one of Catalonia’s most dangerous organized crime drug lords, who had been a fugitive from justice for seven years.
The extradited fugitive absconded before Spain’s Supreme Court could uphold his conviction for stealing 200 kilograms of cocaine from a shipping container at Barcelona’s port.
The extradition was successfully executed despite significant challenges. Although a bilateral treaty exists between Spain and the Dominican Republic, its implementation remains highly complex in practice.
The full report is available in its original publication in El País newspaper: https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2022-10-17/espana-logra-la-extradicion-de-un-peligroso-narco-huido-siete-anos-en-republica-dominicana.html
23 May 2022
Belgian Court Blocks Extradition of Rapper Valtònyc to Spain
On May 17 of this year, the Ghent Court of Appeal (Belgium) rejected the extradition of Balearic rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, aka ‘Valtònyc,’ to Spain for the offense of insulting the Crown. The ruling reaffirms a prior decision that Belgium’s Court of Cassation had ordered to be reconsidered.
The Court of Appeal has established for the second time that insults against the monarch of Spain do not constitute a crime in Belgium. And hence the Court’s decision not to extradite the rapper.
You can read the full news article published on the RTVE website below: https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20220517/justicia-belga-rechaza-extradicion-valtonyc-espana/2349377.shtml
9 may 2022
The National Police guards the delivery to Spain of an extradited person from Ukraine.
The National Police, in coordination with INTERPOL, oversaw the delivery to Spain on April 6 of a Georgian citizen extradited by Ukraine and wanted by the Central Investigating Court No. 3 of the National Court for money laundering and attempted murder.
It seems that between the years 2008 and 2010, the criminal organization to which the extradited person belonged was engaged in the collection and laundering of money from various criminal activities. Additionally, the extradited individual is accused of ordering the murder of a rival within the organization to which he belonged.
6 april 2022
The National Court agrees to provisionally release the Colombian hitman “El Nene” who is pending extradition.
The Criminal Chamber of the National Court has agreed to provisionally release Jonathan Andrés Zuloaga Celemín, alias “El Nene,” who is attributed with the commission of more than 100 homicide offenses and is pending extradition to Colombia, where he is required by the justice system of that country for prosecution.
The judges of the National Court have, however, agreed to impose several precautionary measures on “El Nene,” specifically, the revocation of his passport and a ban on leaving Spanish territory, as well as requiring him to appear in court every two weeks.
You can read the full article published in the newspaper “El País” below: https://elpais.com/espana/2022-03-25/en-libertad-el-nene-un-peligro-sicario-colombiano-pendiente-de-extradicion.html
25 june 2021
A senior Mexico City government official in charge of rebuilding the city after the 2017 earthquake has been extradited from Spain.
Senior Mexican official Edgar Tungüí was extradited from Spain at the request of the Mexican justice system last May, after being arrested in Madrid on April 6.
The former official was in charge of rebuilding Mexico City after the 2017 earthquake and was subject to three arrest warrants. The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Mexico accuses him of embezzlement, specifically of having embezzled approximately 40 million Mexican pesos from the public treasury. The Attorney General’s Office accuses him of illegally using his powers and authority while serving as a public servant.
The proceedings fell to the Investigative Court No. 3 of the National Court, and at the hearing held regarding his extradition, the former Mexican official almost immediately agreed to be extradited to Mexico. The National Court Judge agreed to this, although he ordered his provisional detention in a Madrid prison while the proceedings were resolved. The extradition was finally carried out last May.
You can read the full news published in the newspaper below: El País:
1 december 2020
The National Court orders the imprisonment of alleged ETA member Natividad Jaúregui Espina, who has been extradited from Belgium.
On November 23, 2020, National Court Judge José de la Mata ordered the imprisonment of alleged ETA member Natividad Jaúregui Espina (alias “Pepona y Jaione”), who was handed over to Spain the day before by Belgian justice.
The alleged ETA member is charged with murder (of Lieutenant Colonel Ramón Romeo, committed in Bilbao in 1981), and also with terrorism.
En su auto, el juez considera a Jauregui como presunta miembro de uno de los dos taldes o grupos del comando Vizcaya de ETA que estuvieron activos entre enero y julio de 1981 en el País Vasco y toma su decisión tras concluir que existe un elevado riesgo de fuga de la presunta etarra y además considera el magistrado que la misma no tiene ningún arraigo en España ya que reside desde hace años en Bélgica.
You can read the full news published in the newspaper below: El País:
ETA member extradited by Belgium sentenced to prison for flight risk | Spain | EL PAÍS (elpais.com)
6 october 2020
Founder of McAfee antivirus arrested in Spain for tax fraud
McAfee’s antivirus founder, John McAfee, was arrested on October 3 at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport. The arrest came at the request of US courts seeking McAfee’s extradition, accusing him of evading millions of dollars in taxes on profits allegedly obtained from activities such as cryptocurrency trading.
National Court Judge José de la Mata ordered McAfee’s provisional imprisonment, which is being held at the Brians Penitentiary in Barcelona, pending a resolution to the U.S. extradition request.
You can read the full news published in the newspaper below: El País:
Update as of December 15, 2020
The National Court has refused to release John McAfee, who was arrested in Spain on October 3, 2020, and whose extradition has been requested by the U.S. for tax offenses.
The judges of the National Court have dismissed the appeal filed by John McAfee’s representatives, who requested his release while the National Court ruled on the US extradition request, considering the founder of the famous antivirus company to be a flight risk, as he had previously attempted to flee to other countries to evade justice.
You can read the full article published in the newspaper “El País” here.
23 april 2020
The National Court denies the extradition of a businessman to Kuwait for violating fundamental rights.
The Second Section of the National Court has rejected the extradition of businessman Bashar Kiwan to Kuwait to serve a seven-year prison sentence with forced labor. The judges of the National Court consider that the forced labor sentence constitutes, per se, a violation of the right to bodily integrity.
Bashar Kiwan had been convicted in his absence of document falsification related to the articles of association of a company 51% owned by his former partner, Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, a member of the royal family and son of the former prime minister of Kuwait. Bashar Kiwan was arrested in Madrid in March 2019 following an international search warrant issued by the Kuwaiti authorities, who requested his extradition to carry out the sentence.
In the extradition proceedings, the Prosecutor’s Office initially requested in its report that extradition be granted, provided that Kuwait offered guarantees for a new trial and that the defendant would not be subjected to forced labor. However, at the hearing held on February 10, 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office changed its position and, like the defense, requested that extradition be denied based, among other reasons, on the failure to comply with these conditions.
The National Court ultimately ruled that Kuwait had not provided guarantees that the defendant would receive a new trial, an essential requirement for granting extradition when the conviction is handed down in the defendant’s absence, in accordance with the Spanish Passive Extradition Law.
It also held that the extradition request should be rejected because the request is made “for the execution of a sentence whose nature, per se, entails a violation of the right to bodily integrity and human dignity, namely seven years of forced labor.” In this case, what has become clear is not just a risk that these rights could be violated, but rather the fact that, if the requesting State is handed over to the requesting State, it will enforce the sentence of forced labor, and the State of Kuwait does not offer sufficient guarantees that such a sentence will not be imposed.
You can read the news published in “El País” on April 1, 2020 at: https://elpais.com/espana/2020-03-31/kuwait-persigue-hasta-espana-a-un-empresario-enfrentado-con-la-familia-real.html
And the Order of the Second Section of the Criminal Chamber of the National Court in:
http://www.poderjudicial.es/search/AN/openDocument/4ec28f5a2435f628/20200316
21 August 2019
Brazil authorises extradition to Spain of one of the perpetrators of the Atocha massacre
On August 13, the Brazilian Supreme Court authorized the extradition to Spain of one of the perpetrators of the murders of five labor lawyers that took place in 1977, at the beginning of the Spanish transition to power. This event became known as the Atocha massacre. Spain wants the extradited individual to serve the remaining 3,855 days of his sentence.
You can read the full article published in the newspaper ‘El País’ on 14 August 2019 by clicking on the following link:
https://elpais.com/politica/2019/08/14/actualidad/1565734532_492520.html
Source: ‘El País’.
Update as of January 15, 2020
The extradition of Mr. Carlos García Juliá, one of the perpetrators of the Atocha murders, will take place imminently and in any case will be carried out within 60 days from December 26, 2019, when the Spanish Embassy in Brasilia was informed.
You can read the news published in the newspaper “El País” here.
Updated as of February 7, 2020
Mr. Carlos García Juliá, co-author of the Atocha murders perpetrated in 1977, has been extradited from Brazil and handed over to the Spanish authorities today, entering the Soto del Real prison to serve the remainder of his sentence (3,855 days).
You can read the full article published in the newspaper “El País” here.
20 August 2018
The Spanish government approves the extradition to the United States of former high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan government and former directors of PDVSA
On June 22, the Council of Ministers approved the extradition to the United States of Rafael Ernesto Reiter, former Director of Security and Prevention of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, who was wanted by the United States for prosecution for his alleged involvement in crimes of money laundering, international corruption and criminal organization.
Click here to read the full article.
Updated: January 15, 2020
The judges of the Second Section of the National Court recently denied the extradition to the United States of Mr. Javier Alvarado Ochoa, an executive of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, because he holds dual Spanish-Venezuelan nationality and is also under investigation in Spain in other criminal cases in which he is accused of similar crimes.
You can read the article published in the newspaper “El Confidencial” here.
10 May 2018
The new extradition proceedings against Hervé Falciani urged by Switzerland
On 5 April, Hervé Daniel Marcel Falciani, the French-Italian computer scientist and former bank employee accused of disclosing the names of more than 130,000 names of potential tax evaders who were clients of the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC Bank, was arrested in Madrid in a document known as the ‘Falciani List’, which specifically included the identity of 659 alleged Spanish tax evaders.
Click here to read the full article.
Update September 2018
The Audiencia Nacional again refuses to extradite Hervé Falciani to Switzerland
Click here to read the updated news published in ‘El País’.
16 November 2017
News: EL PAÍS
The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed the extradition to Spain of a former Salvadoran deputy defense minister in the Ellacuría case.
To access the full web news article, click here.
2 October 2017
Turkey asks Spain to extradite two dissident journalists from Erdogan’s regime
On 3 August Hamza Yalçin, a Turkish-Swedish journalist and writer, was arrested in Barcelona on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant as he was about to board a plane to London. The Audiencia Nacional then ordered him to be remanded in custody without bail.
Click here to read the full article.
Updated: November 8, 2020
The National Court rejects Ankara’s request to hand over a businessman it accuses of belonging to an organization the EU does not consider terrorist.
The National Court has rejected the extradition to Turkey of the businessman (whose initials are E. A.), whom the Erdogan government accused of terrorism, considering him a member of the group of the cleric Fetulá Gülen, a religious leader exiled in the United States, whom Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup d’état of July 2016, which left nearly 200 dead. In its ruling, the court concludes that the acts of which E. A. is accused—reading religious texts and those of Gülen at a meeting in Madrid with Turkish university students—do not constitute a crime in Spain and recalls that the European Union (EU) does not include the cleric’s organization on its list of terrorist groups, to which the businessman also denies belonging.
This is the third time Spain has refused to hand over dissidents to Erdogan’s government, following its 2017 refusal to agree to the extraditions sought by Turkish justice for the Turkish-Swedish journalist Hamza Yalçin and the Turkish-German writer Dogan Akhanli. The Turkish government has appealed the decision.
You can read the full article published in the newspaper “El País” below:
18 February 2017
The Council of Ministers authorizes the extradition of 269 detainees to China during Operation Wall Street.
The vast majority of those arrested are citizens of Taiwanese origin, while the rest are citizens of the People’s Republic of China. They were part of a network dedicated to defrauding Chinese citizens over the phone from Spain.
Although Taiwan had requested the Spanish authorities to extradite the detainees (who held Taiwanese passports), Spain ultimately decided, under the extradition treaty signed with China, to authorize the extradition of the detainees to that country, which has generated discomfort and disappointment in the Taiwanese government.
While in Taiwan, fraud is considered an economic crime punishable by seven years in prison, in the People’s Republic, those extradited could face life imprisonment.
The proceedings have been brought before Central Investigative Court No. 5 of the National Court.
Source: El País / El Mundo
You can read the full article at the following links:
http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/02/18/actualidad/1487433695_812331.html
http://www.elmundo.es/espana/2017/01/23/5884ff4b268e3ee5258b45a7.html