The war in Ukraine has made extradition proceedings between Germany and Ukraine one of the most legally complex and politically sensitive areas of international criminal law. Whether you are facing an extradition request, an Interpol Red Notice, or concerns about military desertion charges, the extradition lawyers at Schlun & Elseven Rechtsanwälte are here to protect your rights.

There is no bilateral extradition treaty between Germany and Ukraine. Extradition is instead governed by the Council of Europe’s Convention on Extradition of 1957, supplemented by Germany’s Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (IRG). In 2021, German authorities handled 12 extradition requests from Ukraine, predominantly involving theft and fraud, according to the Federal Office of Justice’s extradition statistics.

Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, Ukraine’s ability to fulfil its international treaty obligations has been significantly compromised. In April 2022, Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe formally notified that Ukraine could not fully implement its obligations under certain international agreements, including the European Convention on Extradition and its additional protocols, for the duration of the armed conflict.
This has concrete legal consequences. In November 2023, a French court refused a Ukrainian extradition request for a person wanted on embezzlement charges, finding that Ukraine could not guarantee the individual would face a tribunal capable of upholding basic procedural rights. German courts are similarly required to assess whether a fair trial can be guaranteed – a threshold that is increasingly difficult for Ukraine to meet under current conditions.

This is one of the most pressing questions for the approximately 180,000 Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 currently in Germany.
The European Convention on Extradition excludes extradition for purely military offences, including desertion. However, a landmark ruling from the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) from January 2025 has significantly narrowed the protection available to Ukrainian nationals in Germany.
This case concerned a Ukrainian man wanted in Ukraine for a civilian offence (assault on a police officer) who argued that extradition should be refused because he would face conscription upon return, with no realistic prospect of being recognised as a conscientious objector. The BGH rejected this; the court held that neither the German Basic Law, the ECHR, nor international human rights law guarantee an unconditional right to conscientious objector status and that in a state facing an unlawful armed attack, the suspension of that right does not constitute an insurmountable extradition obstacle.

A key distinction remains: extradition for purely military offences is still excluded under the Convention. But where a Ukrainian national faces extradition for a civilian criminal offence, the fear of conscription upon return will not prevent it. The situation is further complicated where someone committed a civilian offence, such as using forged documents, falsified ID, or bribery specifically to avoid military service, as extradition may be possible in those cases too.

If you are a Ukrainian national in Germany with concerns about extradition or conscription, the legal situation requires urgent individual assessment. Contact us without delay.

The extradition practice between Germany and Ukraine is determined by the European Convention on Extradition. Regulations concerning extradition listed in the European Convention on Extradition are the following:

• Dual criminality (Art. 2): The offence must carry a minimum sentence of at least one year in both Germany and Ukraine.
• Political and military offences (Art. 3 & 4): Extradition is excluded for offences of a political or military nature.
• Own nationals (Art. 6): Neither state is obliged to extradite its own nationals.
• Territorial jurisdiction (Art. 7): Germany may refuse extradition if the alleged offence took place on German territory.
• Parallel proceedings (Art. 8): Ongoing criminal proceedings in Germany for the same offence generally take precedence over extradition.
• Double jeopardy (Art. 9): A prior conviction or acquittal in Germany for the same act bars extradition.
• Statute of limitations (Art. 10): Extradition will be refused if the offence is time-barred under German or Ukrainian law.
• Death penalty (Art. 11): Extradition may be denied if the person faces a risk of capital punishment in Ukraine.

In 2020 the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Ukrainian detention centres. They recorded credible allegations of physical ill-treatment by prison officers following disobedient behaviour consisting of hits with rubber batons, kicks, and punches and in a few cases even inflictions of burns, asphyxiation using a plastic bag, and “waterboarding”. The CPT also reported inmates‘ allegations of serious physical ill-treatment made by the prison staff, including one prisoner alleging to having been stripped naked and blindfolded and tied with a rope to a bed for 6 days with no breaks.

There were further reports about insufficient staff, which lead to fewer possibilities of direct contact with prisoners and increased staff-inmate tension. The sparse number of staff is also believed to have led to the appointment of “duty prisoners.” In the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ukraine by the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor the “duty prisoners” were described as “a select group of prisoners appointed by staff to maintain discipline and to punish newly arrived prisoners who refused to comply with their orders”. The CPT also reported about “duty prisoners” being involved in the ill-treatment of other prisoners alongside correctional officers in their offices in the administrative building.

Extradition cases involving Ukraine require not only legal expertise but continuous monitoring of a rapidly evolving political and legal situation. Our team analyses every extradition request in detail, identifies procedural and substantive grounds for challenge, and advises clients on the real risk posed by detention conditions in Ukraine. We also handle Interpol Red Notice removal proceedings and represent clients facing military-related extradition concerns.