The institute of extradition in Russian and international law

The paper scrutinizes the historical evolution of extradition as a legal concept in Russian and international law, pinpoints shortcomings in current legal regulation, and suggests the conceptualization and incorporation of the concept of a political offence in the European Convention on Extradition. The study revealed that legal regulations of matters related to filing requests for extradition of individuals to the Russian Federation for criminal prosecution and sentence enforcement are insufficient. As a result, investigators lack a clear understanding of the course of action in the event when extradition is required and do not have the skills required to draw up relevant procedural documents. It has been proposed to draft and pass a law on extradition. This will eliminate legal gaps, streamline the request procedure, and establish a list of required documents and powers of investigative authorities. We consider it essential to make and officially establish a list of bodies of crimes provided by the criminal laws of the Russian Federation for which a perpetrator hiding in a foreign state may be subjected to extradition. It is crucial to amend regulatory provisions by limiting political grounds for refusing extradition and introducing liability for breaching the international treaties. Strengthening the legal framework will contribute to higher performance of law enforcement cooperation and fewer cases of unreasonable extradition refusals.