Argument on the point that Extradition Treaties are
suspended during the enforcement of Matiel Law.
61
1
I submit that the existence of Martial Law in a country ipso facto suspends the operation of its Extradition Treaties, and that no surrender will be made on its requisition during the continuanos of that law.
This submission is the particular application to the circumstances of this case of a wider proposition, which I shall also submit to the Court, the two being inseparably connected:- that Extradition Treaties are suspended during the existence of internal commotion, which has reached the stage when martial law has been put in force, and therefore that they remain
suspended so long as the martial law continues in force.
proposition thus covers both math and after math.
The
Although the proposition is a novel one, or I prefer
to say, although the occasion for considering the question has not yet arisen, it does, when stated in this fuller form, come nearer to another perfectly well-known proposition; that treaties two countries are suspended during warlike operations (Now Encyclopaedia Vol. XIV p. 240). By "coming nearer". I mean
that it has come affinities with it, and therefore even at first
hearing this proposition may commend itself to consideration.
I think also that it is a proposition which will be appreciated
instinctively by those who have served as Law Officers of the
Crown, and who have so become familiar with the higher questions
of constitutional law. And I think further that it will appeal
to all fair-minded men, for we give murderers a fair trial, and
it must shook the most indifferent to think of even the most
unmitigated ruffian being shot at sight. That form of penalty
does not satisfy our motions of justics; and therefore when we
know that this must be, or is likely to be, the consequences of
the surrender of a fugitive, it is at least enough to make us
(1).