Q1194. How to process extradition request document translations?

Answered by the NYC Visa & Translation certified translation team

Extradition documents in Thailand are governed by the Extradition Act and Thailand's extradition treaties, administered through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's office — and the translation work is official-channel work with strict formality. The document flows: an incoming extradition request (a foreign state requesting a person in Thailand) arrives through diplomatic channels with the treaty-required documents — the warrant, the case summary, the evidence of the offence, and the legal texts establishing dual criminality — translated into Thai for the Thai court's consideration (the Thai court examines the request's treaty compliance); an outgoing request (Thailand requesting a person abroad) is prepared with the Thai documents translated into the requested state's language per that state's treaty requirements. Rules that matter: the treaty specifies the required documents and their form — the document set is built to the treaty's list exactly; the dual criminality analysis (the offence must be criminal in both states) requires the legal texts of both countries — the statutes are translated with legal precision; and the identity evidence (establishing the person sought is the person arrested) is the threshold issue. Points that matter: the timelines in extradition proceedings are statutory (the provisional arrest periods are short — the full request must arrive within the treaty's deadline); the translation is certified official work through the government channels; and the human rights and specialty protections (the person can be tried only for the extradited offence) are part of the undertaking documents. This is government-to-government work — the translation is commissioned through the official channels, and private parties' role is through their counsel in the proceedings.