International extradition

As defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, international extradition is the formal process by which a person found in one country is surrendered to another country for trial or punishment. The process is regulated by treaty and conducted between the Federal Government of the United States and the government of a foreign country.

It differs both from extraordinary rendition in international relations, as well as domestic interstate extradition. Extraordinary rendition may still involve an overt process by which the person is surrendered to another country by formal but not judicial methods, or may, as used by the George W. Bush Administration, be a secret process.