International Fugitives: A New Role for the International Court of Justice

In this penetrating analysis of international extradition practices, Barbara Yarnold argues that, as they currently exist, these practices are not functioning adequately. This breakdown is confirmed, she demonstrates, by repeated incidents of illegal international extradition, most recently the 1989 gunboat extradition of Panama's General Noriega by the United States. Yarnold contends that the inability of current extradition procedures to fulfill the needs of the parties involved poses a serious threat to world peace and security because the extra-legal extraditions that are substituted often involve the violation of the territorial sovereignty of another state. Yarnold proposes an alternative mechanism for dealing with requests for international extradition in which the International Court of Justice plays a central role.

Divided into three parts, the book begins with a group of chapters that examine and evaluate contemporary extradition practices. The author looks at the history of extradition agreements, analyzes the international extradition proceedings of U.S. district courts during the last sixty years, and shows that the inherent uncertainty and delay in international extradition practices often leads frustrated states to resort to extra-legal or illegal alternatives. In Part II, Yarnold examines efforts that have been made toward resolving international disputes through negotiation rather than through the use of force, focusing particular attention on the development of the International Court of Justice. Finally, the author suggests that the world community of states grant to the International Court of Justice jurisdiction over both international crimes and crimes committed against states but involve the flight of the fugitive from one state to another. She suggests further that the decision regarding whether or not international extradition of a fugitive is warranted should also be made by the International Court of Justice, instead of by courts within states, which are subject to local biases. Students of international relations and international law will find Yarnold's work illuminating reading.