Chapter One. Multilateral Treaties and Conventions on Extradition among American Countries

Abstract

This chapter begins with a survey of the steps taken toward the preparation and adoption of the first multilateral treaty in the world that dealt exclusively with extradition in a broad context. The Treaty on Extradition, prepared and approved in 1879 by the American Congress of Jurists, held in Lima, was the first multilateral treaty to be adopted with the idea of establishing special rules on extradition among countries of an entire region. The American countries have been pioneers in the multilateral solution. Only in 1957 did the European countries adopt a multilateral convention dealing exclusively with extradition: the European Convention on Extradition. Some publications mention the multilateral Treaty of Amiens, signed on March 27, 1802, by France, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain. This treaty did not deal exclusively with extradition, but also with other problems, and only Article 20 contained a rule on this matter.Keywords: American countries; European countries; extradition; multilateral convention; multilateral treaty