The constitutional protection against extradition under Article 16 (2) Grundgesetz does not extend to non-German citizens. The extradition treaty between Germany and the United States includes following requirements:

• Extraditable offenses: The offence must be punishable under the Federal laws of the United States as well as the laws of Germany. For prosecution, the minimum sentence must be exceeding one year’s imprisonment and for the enforcement of a penalty or a detention order, the duration of the penalty still to be served must amount to at least six months.
• Political and military offenses: The extradition request must not be of political character or regarding a military offence.
• Double Jeopardy: The wanted individual must not have been tried and discharged or punished with final and binding effect by German Courts for the offence for which his extradition is requested. As of recently, the European Court of Justice decided, that Germany must also deny extradition if the wanted person has been tried and convicted in any member state of the European Union, irrespective of whether the individual is a citizen of the EU.
• Lapse of Time: The prosecution must not be time-barred.
• Extradition may be refused if the person sought is proceeded against in Germany for the offence for which extradition is requested.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi is the lead hijacker of an airplane hijacking in 1985. The hijackers held passengers with Jewish-sounding names hostage and demanded the release of 700 Muslims from Israeli Custody. He was arrested two years later in Germany while attempting to smuggle explosives. An extradition request from the United States was denied by Germany based on the fact that Hamadi would have faced capital punishment in the US. He ended up serving a 19 year long prison sentence in Germany but was paroled in 2005 and is now believed to reside in Lebanon. He is still considered a fugitive by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The death penalty is currently authorized by 27 out of 50 states of the USA, the federal government, and the U.S. military. It was abolished in West-Germany in 1949 and is to this day forbidden by the German Constitution. The second supplementary treaty to the extradition treaty elaborates on extradition regarding offenses that are punishable by death in the requesting state. It states that Germany may grant extradition on the condition that the death penalty will not be imposed on the person sought or that it will not be carried out. Further, Germany can deny extradition if the US does not accept the conditions.

The United States holds the distinction of having the largest prison population worldwide, totalling 1,230,100 inmates in 2022. Despite the substantial number of prison inmates, there are very few current reports detailing prison conditions. However, it can be noted, that American prisons differ greatly from their European counterparts, for example often lacking individual cells and instead utilizing dormitories that house more than 20 inmates. Accounts by Amnesty International also report cases of overcrowding and prolonged solitary confinement.

Furthermore, the US prison and justice system is regularly criticized for disproportionally incarcerating black Americans and imposing particularly harsh penalties for drug offences. At the end of 2022, the majority of sentenced prisoners were black (32%), whereas the black population in America only makes up 12.1 percent of the total population. In addition to that, a significant portion of all inmates, forty-seven percent, were serving time for drug offenses as of September 30, 2021.

Our team of expert extradition lawyers is well-versed in handling requests regarding extradition matters from the United States and advocates for clients of all nationalities located in Germany. Please do not hesitate to contact us via our secure contact form for comprehensive legal assistance.