United States/Mexico Bi-National Drug Strategy
Strategy Component
Alliance Point 5: Ensure that fugitives are expeditiously and
with due legal process, brought to justice and are unable to evade justice
in one of our countries by fleeing to or remaining in the other. To this
end, we agree to negotiate a protocol to the extradition treaty that, consistent
with the legal system in each country, will allow, under appropriate circumstances
and conditions, individuals to be tried in both countries prior to the
completion of their sentences in either country.
The governments of both countries have identified extradition as a key
component in the campaign against transnational criminal organizations.
In 1978, Mexico and the United States signed an Extradition Treaty, with
a view to strengthening cooperation in the war against crime.
Both countries will endeavor to ensure that fugitives are brought to
justice expeditiously, in accordance with due process, and that they cannot
evade justice in one country by fleeing to the other or by remaining where
they are.
With due regard for domestic laws, Mexico and the United States will
continue to explore mechanisms to streamline specific processes, which
could include supplementing the bilateral treaty in force, so as to provide
better cooperation in this area and to ensure that extradition requests
submitted by each country are processed as expeditiously as possible.
Objectives
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Intensify in each country, with due regard for the jurisdiction of the
responsible agencies in both party’s territory, the location of fugitives,
with a view to arresting, prosecuting, extraditing or deporting/expelling
a greater number of fugitives.
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Develop the legal support, in accordance with each country’s laws, necessary
to authorize temporary transfers to the other country of individuals sought
for extradition so that the requesting party may pursue proceedings against
the person sought, even if he is serving a sentence in the other country.
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Continue the program under which periodic status reports on priority fugitive
cases are exchanged.
Actions
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will make effective use
of existing extradition procedures.
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will maintain an ongoing
program to exchange information on rules applicable to extradition cases
in both countries.
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will continue and increase
the frequency of consultations on the status of priority extradition cases
and on the legal requirements and evidence needed to ensure provisional
arrest and extradition.
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will fully implement the
Fugitive Identification and Alert Program recently established between
the immigration authorities to facilitate the expulsion/deportation of
citizens who fled the other country for immigration violations.
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will promote before their
respective legislatures the quick ratification of the protocol to the existing
Extradition Treaty signed by the Attorneys General on November 13, 1997.
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The Governments of Mexico and the United States will continue the bilateral
consultative mechanism regarding extradition in potentially exceptional
cases.
