Political offender or extraditable criminal: The political offence, international order and protection of the individual.

This thesis studies the evolution and current purpose of the political offence exception for the purpose of determining whether there is a continuing role for the exception. It concludes that there is a continuing need for the exception. The thesis examines the coexistence in international law and policy between the demand for international public order, as characterized by the system of extradition laws and treaties, and the need to safeguard the rights of the individual, as reflected in the political offence exception to extradition, international refugee protection and the practice of asylum. There are a number of concerns with the political offence exception as currently applied, namely: (1) Designation of inappropriate acts as political offences; (2) Excessive rigidity and formality by some courts; (3) Excessive judicial discretion; (4) Over-emphasis on efficacy of the act in question; (5) Excessive political influence on decision-making. The thesis proposes an alternative political offence exception test with the following five criteria: (1) the individual should be involved in a dispute concerning political control over the state; (2) the individual should be part of a group which is involved in such a struggle and the act in question must be done in furtherance of that struggle; (3) the exception should not apply to heinous crimes such as crimes against humanity; (4) certain acts such as hijacking should be automatically excluded; (5) there should be proportionality between means and ends. (Abstract shortened by UMI.