France treats extradition of French nationals as a hard constitutional bar - nationality at the time of the offense controls, not a discretionary waiver. Non-nationals face the Chambre de l'instruction, then a gouvernement decree, with Conseil d'Etat review in the background. Strategy should cite the 1996 and 2002 treaty instruments, not obsolete 1909 folklore. Death-penalty and ordre public limits still shape fraud and terrorism-related packages aimed at SDNY. Spodek Law Group P.C. kills passport myths on day one. Risk-free consultation. Call 212 300 5196 - attorney on call, 24/7.
French nationals - nationality at offense time is a hard stop.
France does not extradite its nationals to the United States. The bar turns on nationality when the conduct occurred, not on later passport games. Families import softer Latin rules and lose months. For citizens, domestic channels may be the only live fight. Fix offense dating and citizenship records before anyone markets France as cooperative on surrender.
Chambre de l'instruction then gouvernement decree.
Investigating chambers at the cour d'appel examine legality, dual criminality, and human-rights compatibility. Executive surrender follows by governmental decree. Legal sufficiency belongs in the judicial instruction record. Diplomatic assurances and ordre public concerns belong in the executive file. Argue defects to the wrong chamber and you waste the structured French filters that still exist for non-nationals.
1996 and 2002 treaty text - leave 1909 slogans behind.
Modern France-US extradition runs through treaties concluded in 1996 and 2002, not nineteenth-century list nostalgia. Dual-criminality formulas, documentation standards, and specialty rules in those instruments frame contemporary fights. Advisors still citing 1909 are briefing the wrong century. Spodek Law Group P.C. anchors strategy in the live bilateral text and French Code of Criminal Procedure practice - so families stop wasting months on museum law while Chambre de l'instruction deadlines keep moving.
Death penalty and ordre public - assurances are not decorative.
Capital exposure triggers death-penalty assurances and ordre public review. France will not treat American charging labels as self-executing surrender tickets. Overbroad terrorism or murder wrappers intensify assurance and public-order fights for non-nationals. We force US counts into discrete French offense boxes before anyone assumes a governmental decree is inevitable. Unlike firms that soft-pedal bad facts, we tell you what assurance fights actually require.
Fraud and terrorism-related theories for non-nationals.
US packages from Paris corridors often stack wire fraud, market manipulation, and terrorism-adjacent conspiracy theories against non-French targets. Political-offense boundaries and dual criminality remain live even when headlines scream security. Agents push voluntary return through CDG. Statements become US exhibits. Spodek Law Group P.C. coordinates French counsel and US trial defense before waiver erases instruction leverage.
