Professor van Zyl Smit to present a paper at the European Society of Criminology Conference

The annual conference of the European Society of Criminology, which this year is being held in Prague, will hear a paper by Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit.

The paper, entitled ‘The individual and transnational criminal justice: the case of Jens Soering’, reflects on the legacy of the decision of the European Court of Rights which 25 years ago ruled that Soering could not be extradited to face the death penalty in the USA. It  pays particular attention to the problems of extradition and the international transfer of sentenced prisoners facing life sentences, rather than the death penalty as in the past.  It questions the extent to which there are internationally shared assumptions about these matters and related issues such as parole and pardon for such prisoners.