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What does the legal principle aut dedere aut judicare require states to do?
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War crime
Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann listening as an Israeli court declares him guilty on all counts at his war crimes trial in Jerusalem, 1961.
The legal principle aut dedere aut judicare (Latin for "either adjudicate or extradite") establishes a mandatory requirement for national governments under international law.
When individuals are suspected of committing certain serious offenses—specifically grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions or the crime of torture—states are under a legal duty to ensure accountability. The principle requires that a state must either:
- Try the offender within its own national criminal-justice system; or
- Extradite the offender to another country that is prepared to prosecute them.1
This "try or extradite" obligation is designed to ensure that perpetrators of international crimes do not escape justice, and it is also applied in various international treaties addressing issues such as terrorism, counterfeiting, and the theft of nuclear materials.1