Extradition comes into play when a person charged with a crime under state statutes flees the state. An individual charged with a federal crime may be moved from one state to another without any extradition procedures.

Extradition law in the United States is the formal process by which a fugitive found in one country or state is surrendered to another country or state for trial or punishment. For foreign countries the process is regulated by treaty and conducted between the Federal Government of the United States and the government of a foreign country.

The very heart of FBI operations lies in our investigations—which serve, as our mission states, "to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States."

The States Parties bind themselves, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, to surrender to other States Parties that request their extradition persons who are judicially required for prosecution, are being tried, have been convicted or have been sentenced to a penalty involving deprivation of liberty.

The Hemispheric Information Exchange Network for Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition (the “Network”) has been in development since the year 2000, when the Third Meeting of the Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorney Generals of the Americas (REMJA-III) decided to increase and improve the exchange of information among OAS Member States in the area of mutual assistance in criminal matters.

One of INTERPOL’s most important functions is to help police in member countries share critical crime-related information using the organization’s system of international notices.