Legal Definitions - doctrine of specialty

The Doctrine of Specialty is a principle in international law that is included in most extradition treaties. It states that a person who is extradited to a country to stand trial for certain criminal offenses may only be tried for those offenses and not for any other pre-extradition offenses.

For example, if a person is extradited from the United States to Canada to stand trial for drug trafficking, they can only be tried for that specific offense. They cannot be tried for any other crimes they may have committed before they were extradited.

This principle is important because it protects individuals from being unfairly prosecuted for crimes they did not agree to be extradited for. It also ensures that countries do not abuse the extradition process to prosecute individuals for unrelated offenses.