Extradition defense
People unlawfully prosecuted and accused of offences in non-democratic countries who try to hide in the regions with independent judicial system commonly face the situation where inappropriate extradition requests are surprisingly quickly approved by the local courts without thorough review of the case. This results in their extradition to the places where their verdict is predetermined by non-legal factors, where they are accused of a crime they have not committed and their case can not be objectively reviewed by default. This established practice allows corrupt regimes and their beneficiaries to successfully deal with every person who is going against their interests under the guise of justice. Unfortunately, even the most objective judges who review the extradition cases in developed countries tend not to challenge the status quo because established procedures require them to check only the formal side of the case (which is typically met by the requests they receive) while local attorneys lack the particular knowledge of the defendant’s real situation in the country of origin.
Status Law has won multiple extradition cases defending our clients from unlawful extradition from European Union member states to developing countries, including China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the UAE and Turkmenistan. We successfully operate on the intersection of European, international and national law thanks to our established expertise in legal systems across different regions of the world and our broad network of contacts inside and outside the EU.
Before relocating to Belgium, some of Status Law partners and associates resided and operated in countries requests from which they currently process and supervise. This experience allows us to build our practice on detailed knowledge of the particular jurisdiction the request comes from, consider the process and flaws of each prosecution algorithm and take into account the political, federal, governmental and business environment of the requesting country as real factors impacting the hosting court’s decision. In addition, our proven track of record in public affairs, human rights advocacy and political communication enables us to make media attention and issues of international politics and international extradition processes a part of the context for some cases, should this be necessary.
If you or your family member are currently under the threat of extradition case, you will benefit from contacting us even if you have already hired a local lawyer with no or limited experience in extradition request defense. Although we do not require our lawyers to exclusively represent all of the firm’s clients, their involvement will provide you with specific expertise and a detailed request audit which can reveal potentially hidden considerations and evidence and create an additional line of protection during the hearing in the court.
The direct specialization of Status Law in extradition defense is the guarantee that your case will be grounded on a comprehensive set of arguments and will reflect your unique situation, which will make it impossible to hand you over to a non-EU jurisdiction.