International Relations
Extradition Treaty between India and Belgium
- 23 Mar 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the signing and ratifying of the Extradition Treaty between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Belgium.
- This will replace the pre-Independence Extradition Treaty between Great Britain and Belgium of 1901 that was made applicable to India through the exchange of Letters in 1958.
- The Treaty provides a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders, and other criminals from and to Belgium.
Extradition
- It is the formal process of one state surrendering an individual to another state for prosecution or punishment for crimes committed in the requesting country's jurisdiction.
- This is generally enabled through a bilateral or multilateral treaty.
- The legal basis for extradition with countries with whom India does not have an Extradition treaty is provided by Section 3 (4) of the Indian Extradition Act, 1962.
Salient Features of the Treaty
- Obligation to Extradite: Each Party agrees to extradite to the other any person found in its territory, who is accused or convicted of an extraditable offence in the territory of the other Party.
- However, extradition of nationals is discretionary. The nationality will be determined at the time the offence was committed.
- Extraditable Offences
- An extraditable offence means an offence punishable under the laws of both the Parties with imprisonment for a period of one year or more severe punishment.
- Offences relating to taxation, or revenue or is one of a fiscal character also fall within the scope of this Treaty.
- Mandatory Grounds for Refusal Under the Treaty:
- The offence involved is a political offence.
- The offence is a military offence.
- The request for prosecution has been made on account of his race, sex, religion, nationality or political opinion.
