Extradition Procedure between Türkiye and Northern Cyprus

Abstract

International judicial assistance (letters rogatory) is a set of procedures carried out by a competent judicial authority of one state on behalf of the judicial authority of another state. Extradition is also an important part of international judicial assistance and is defined as the surrender to a foreign state, upon request, of persons, for whom it was alleged that they have committed a crime in one country and fled to another country while being tried or serving a sentence, in order them to be tried or to serve the sentence imposed. With the extradition process, it has been aimed to ensure that people who commit crimes are not rewarded and that criminality is effectively combated. Türkiye also frequently resorts to extradition due to the large number of our citizens living abroad, the travels done easily within the scope of the visa exemption agreements concluded between the countries, and the illegal exits from the country. In particular, the high number of suspects, accused persons, or convicts who move between the two countries by taking advantage of the freedom and ease of travel provided within the framework of historical ties and close political relations between Türkiye and Northern Cyprus (TRNC) increases further the importance of international judicial assistance and extradition. In this declaration herein, due to the aforementioned reasons, the extradition process between Türkiye and Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is examined within the framework of both countries’ domestic law in this regard and of the bilateral agreement on judicial assistance between them. First of all, general information is given about international judicial assistance and extradition, which is an essential part thereof. Subsequently, the extradition process (such as legislation, institutions conducting the extradition process, provisional arrest, surrender phase, and rule of specialty) is discussed within the scope of the domestic law and the bilateral agreement. In addition, information was briefly provided on ‘‘deportation’’ as well, which is considered as an alternative to extradition in practice and among the applied security measures. Finally, the importance of extradition due to the historical ties and close political relations between Türkiye and the Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was emphasized, conducting trials and preventing impunity for whom it has been alleged that they committed crimes and effectively combating criminality were addressed within the framework of the statistics belonging to the last decade.