Prosecution of Genocide v. the Fair Trial Principle: Comments on Brown and Others v. The Government of Rwanda and the UK Secretary of State for the Home Department

The article examines the 2009 decision of the United Kingdom High Court of Justice to deny the extradition of four genocide suspects to Rwanda owing to fair trial and partiality concerns with the Rwandan judiciary. It begins by reviewing the relevant UK extradition legislation, the pertinent facts and the rationale for the judgment and proceeds to situate this decision within the broader transnational judicial scepticism about the extradition or transfer of genocide suspects to Rwanda. While this scepticism arises from valid concerns regarding the contemporary state of human rights in Rwanda, it nevertheless contributes to the perpetuation of impunity surrounding massive historical violations of human rights in the country. This article also enquires about appropriate burdens of proof when extraditing individuals accused of extraordinary international crimes, the importability of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda referral judgments into the context of inter-state extradition, and the relationship between international human rights law and transitional justice.