Commentary on Sections Part 5: Offences under Domestic Law Section 72: Extradition: exception to dual criminality rule under the 1989 Act
112.Section 2 of the Extradition Act 1989 defines what is an extradition crime for cases dealt with under Part 3 of that Act (i.e. all extradition arrangements excluding bilateral extradition treaty partners where the treaty was in force prior to the 1989 Act coming into force). This section amends section 2 of the Extradition Act 1989 and has the effect of disapplying the principle of dual criminality as it relates to extra-territorial offences. (Dual criminality means that extradition can only be granted when the offence at issue would have been a crime both under UK law and the law of the requesting country at the time the offence was committed). This change thus permits extradition to a third country which has extra-territorial jurisdiction for the offences in sections 51, 52, 58 and 59 and any offence ancillary to those offences in cases when the UK does not. Subsection (5) of section 71 is intended to achieve the same result in respect of Schedule 1 to the Extradition Act 1989.