Extradition and Political Crimes: The Use of the Political Offence Exception in Europe [Hardcover]

This book examines the evolution and current application of the political offence exception clause to extradition in Europe.

The book fills a gap in the literature on extradition and judicial co-operation in Europe. It is unique in providing a comprehensive and topical multi-disciplinary analysis ?of the challenges arising from the application of the political offence exception in extradition law. The book is required reading for audiences with expertise in law, international relations and political science and will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners alike. Sibel Top has emerged as a leading critical voice in the field.

Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas, Dean of the School of Law and Social Justice & Professor of European and Global Law,?University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Sibel Tops book comes some 50 years after I wrote my own PhD on the same subject. When I started studying it, the political offence exception was still generally accepted. At the same time, the process of its erosion was getting in full motion as I was writing, against the backdrop of a multitude of terrorist attacks in the 1970ies and 80ies. Today, this erosion seems to be complete, especially in Europe, with the advent, shortly after 9/11, of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). But, as Sibel Top shows, times are changing again. Recent events indicate a decline in democracies around the world and in Europe and are resuscitating the need for a political offence exception. A case in point is the Catalan crisis, in which prominent Catalan leaders have been seeking protection against Spanish EAWs in various European States. None of them has been surrendered. We may, as Sibel Top suggests, be witnessing the rise of a potential ghost political offence exception. The blind mutual confidence between EU States is no longer obvious. One can only hope that l³/