Aut Dedere Aut Judicare

Doctrine International Law Preferred

Obligation of a State holding an alleged offender to extradite that person or submit the case for prosecution.

Independent referenceNot an official or legal definition
Sources citedSee the sources at the end of this page
Status Under reviewLast updated 11 October 2026
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Definition

In plain language

If a State finds a suspect of a serious international crime on its territory, it must either send the person to another State to be tried or put the person on trial itself.

Academic definition

The obligation appears in many multilateral conventions, for example Article 7(1) of the Convention against Torture and Article 7 of the 1970 Hague Convention on aircraft hijacking, and requires submission of the case to prosecutorial authorities where the State does not extradite. In Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal, 2012) the ICJ held that Senegal breached Article 7(1) CAT by failing to submit the Habré case to its authorities without delay, and that extradition is an option rather than an obligation. The ILC's 2014 Final Report concluded that the obligation exists in treaty law but that its customary status for most crimes remains uncertain.

Classification

Term type
Doctrine
Category
International Law
Subject field
International Criminal Law
Subfield
Extradition and Prosecution Obligations
Difficulty level
Expert
Grammatical category
Latin phrase

Language variants

Alternative terms
  • extradite or prosecute
  • obligation to extradite or prosecute
Non-preferred terms
  • not_applicable
Abbreviations
  • AEAJ
Acronyms
  • not_applicable
Native terms
  • aut dedere aut judicare (Latin, 'either extradite or prosecute')
Transliteration
not_applicable
Pronunciation
owt DED-eh-reh owt yoo-dih-KAH-reh

Context

Legal effect: Binding

Scope

Covers the treaty obligation to extradite or submit for prosecution; universal jurisdiction is the broader power to prosecute, and the nationality exception to extradition is a related issue.

Legal context

CAT Article 7(1); Hague Convention 1970 Article 7; the 1949 Geneva Conventions' grave breaches regime (for example GC I Article 49); the ICJ judgment of 20 July 2012 and the ILC Final Report (2014) are the main reference points.

Diplomatic context

States use it to avoid safe havens for offenders, and requests for extradition are often combined with offers to prosecute locally, which can be disputed as a means of shielding the suspect.

Institutional context

Applied by national prosecutors and courts, interpreted by the ICJ, and discussed by the UN Sixth Committee and the ILC.

Historical context

The formula derives from Grotius' aut dedere aut punire, and modern treaty versions began with the aviation and terrorism conventions of the 1970s.

Why it matters

It denies suspects a safe haven by requiring that every State holding an alleged offender either hands over or prosecutes.

Usage

Register: Legal

Usage note

Write the phrase in italics where the style allows; it is often abbreviated to 'extradite or prosecute'.

Example

Having refused extradition, the State submitted the case to its prosecutors in line with the obligation to extradite or prosecute.

Example scenario

A suspect accused of torture is found in State A, and State B requests extradition. State A refuses, so under the treaty it must submit the case to its own prosecutors without delay.

Common misuse

Reading it as an obligation to extradite; the obligation is to prosecute if the State does not extradite.

Not to be confused with

  • Universal jurisdiction
  • Extradition
  • Active nationality principle

Sources

  1. Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal), Judgment, 20 July 2012, International Court of Justice, not_found_in_source. icj-cij.org
  2. Official definition. not_found_in_source
  3. Treaty reference. ohchr.org
  4. ILC, Final Report on the Obligation to Extradite or Prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare) (2014). not_found_in_source
  5. International Law Commission, work programme page on the obligation to extradite or prosecute. legal.un.org

Source type: Court or Tribunal. Source reliability: Primary.

This entry is an independent reference definition, not an official or legally binding text. Where an official definition exists, it is linked above and is authoritative. Read our methodology.

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