New Zealand Extradition Law — Case Law, Legal Framework and Procedure
Extradition cases involving New Zealand — Requested and Requesting State
Connected jurisdictions
Case Law
Extradition and double criminality: transit of drugs through the requesting State may satisfy importation offences
✕
Summary
For the purposes of extradition and the assessment of double criminality, drug trafficking offences may be considered “importation offences” even where the narcotics merely transit through the requesting State, provided that the Record of the Case supports a reasonable inference that the drugs entered, or were intended to enter, that jurisdiction in the context of the alleged conspiracy. Leave to appeal was further denied on the ground that the Record supported an inference that the requested person, as a member of the smuggling operation responsible for customs paperwork in the requested State, knew both the method and the route through the requesting State that the drugs would take.
05/05/2026 · Supreme Court of New Zealand · NZSC 46/2026
🇳🇿New Zealand → 🇺🇸United States
Procedural orderExtraditionCountry Contributor
Neil Boister
University of Canterbury
Professor at University of Canterbury, Faculty of Law. His research interests lie at the intersection between the fields of criminal law and international law.
His initial specialisation was in international drug control law, the topic of his PhD, and he retains an interest in the international drug control system, but he has since written extensively on international tobacco smuggling, the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and the law of extradition.
He is particularly interested in the developing field of transnational criminal law, as that part of international criminal law in a general sense which is concerned with the suppression of transnational crime by states, and has published extensively on this topic.
In addition, he has worked in international criminal law in a strict sense, particularly on the law and history of the International Tribunal for the Far East.
His initial specialisation was in international drug control law, the topic of his PhD, and he retains an interest in the international drug control system, but he has since written extensively on international tobacco smuggling, the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and the law of extradition.
He is particularly interested in the developing field of transnational criminal law, as that part of international criminal law in a general sense which is concerned with the suppression of transnational crime by states, and has published extensively on this topic.
In addition, he has worked in international criminal law in a strict sense, particularly on the law and history of the International Tribunal for the Far East.
Need legal assistance?
Extradition proceedings involving New Zealand
Contact a specialist lawyer with proven experience in extradition cases.