Extradition in the UAE: From the Interpol Notice to the Final Judgment

Extradition in the UAE: From the Interpol Notice to the Final Judgment

Extradition in the UAE is governed by Federal Law No. 39 of 2006 on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters, as amended, which applies without prejudice to the international conventions to which the State is a party and, in their absence, on the basis of reciprocity (Article 2). The treaty layer is wide: bilateral extradition treaties with, among others, the United Kingdom, India, France, China, Australia, Italy, Spain, Pakistan and Egypt; the Riyadh Arab Convention on Judicial Cooperation and the GCC security-cooperation framework; and the extradition provisions of the UN conventions against transnational organised crime, corruption and drug trafficking. Where a treaty exists, its terms govern and the 2006 law fills the gaps; where none exists, the law and reciprocity apply in full.

The substantive conditions are strict. The offence must be punishable in both States by at least one year's imprisonment, or, where a sentence has been passed, at least six months must remain to be served (Article 7). Extradition is refused where the person is a UAE national, where the UAE courts themselves have jurisdiction, where the offence is political or military, where the request is tainted by discrimination, where the person has already been tried or the case is time-barred, or where there is a risk of torture, inhuman treatment or a trial without minimum guarantees (Article 9). The UAE court does not try the merits of the foreign charge; it examines whether these legal conditions are met.

The procedure runs in stages. An Interpol red notice is not an arrest warrant; it is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, and in the UAE it operates through the Attorney General, who may in urgent cases order detention for sixty days pending the formal request on the strength of the foreign warrant (Article 15). The formal request must come through diplomatic channels to the Ministry of Justice as Central Authority, with the warrant, the legal texts, the statement of facts or the judgment, all translated into Arabic (Article 11); the Ministry checks the formal requirements and refers the file to the Public Prosecution (Article 12). The person must be brought before the Public Prosecution within forty-eight hours of arrest, informed of the request and the evidence, and heard in the presence of counsel (Article 17).