🇬🇧 Europe

Does the UK extradite to Russia?

A common-law system with strong judicial protection; UK courts have repeatedly refused surrender in politically tinged cases.

In short

Effectively no

Effectively no. UK courts have repeatedly refused surrender on Russian requests, and cooperation in such cases has been essentially frozen since 2018. A notice nonetheless continues to affect visas and banking.

Author

INTERPOL PROTECTION Research Desk

Reviewed by

Legal Review Board

Published: November 18, 2025Updated: May 6, 2026

Overview

The United Kingdom is a common-law country with strong judicial safeguards. On requests from Russia, UK courts have repeatedly refused surrender, citing the political context of cases and the quality of criminal process in the requesting state.

For wanted persons this means the risk of actual surrender to Russia is low — but a Red Notice still affects banking compliance, visas and travel beyond the UK, so it still needs to be challenged before the CCF.

Legal system

Common law, an independent judiciary, the Extradition Act 2003.

Extradition practice

A court procedure reviewing grounds and human rights; refusals in politically tinged Russia/CIS cases are established practice.

INTERPOL cooperation

Active international cooperation with strict procedural filters.

Human rights & judicial review

The ECHR is incorporated into domestic law (Human Rights Act); Articles 3 and 6 arguments are the core of extradition defence.

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