14-MAY-1992
10:33
BRITISH EMBASSY PARIS '92-05-14 00:01 CLIFFORD CHANCE PARIS 1 44VDOZVU
16 1 42 66 91 42
P.07
1.
advice
the of
"Chambre On the
favourable basis that the d'accusation" does not oblige the French government to extradite, one could in the past have been tempted to see in the option given to the executive power the sign of a discretionary authority ("pouvoir discrétionnaire") especially as it was, in addition, an act relating to relations between foreign states, and it was not habitual that reasons be given.
The evolution noted, from a general point of view, in the last decades show a reduction of the scope of the category of the acts of government. Initially justified by the theory of "political reasons", this category was quickly restricted, failing a specific common and sufficiently clear criterion. to a mere list the contents of which have been decreasing steadily.
The phenomenon is especially noticeable with respect to extradition. It is in fact in this respect an explicit choice, although relatively recent, of
Cannul the French government. In a note to the Counsel of Ministers of 10th November 1992, the Minister of Justice stated that it was appropriate for the government to appraise the requests presented by foreign states in the light of four criteria, each of which. taken in isolation, could justify a refusal to
extradite:
the nature of the political and judicial system of the requesting
State,
the political nature of the offence in question,
the political reasons of the request for extradition,
the risk of aggravation, in case of extradition. of the situation of the relevant person, because of, in particular, his actions or his political opinions, race or religion.
Without commenting on the substance of such criteria, the mere fact that the executive power should set forth express, definite and limitatively listed criteria shows an unequivocal intent to insert fully the decision relating to extradition within a legal frame which then becomes binding on the government.
The substance of the criteria set forth in 1982 reinforces this analysis. It is obvious that one intended that international judicial cooperation should
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