DOJ-OGR-00002146.jpg

Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 97-22 Filed 12/14/20 Page 22 of 30
William JULIÉ
avocat à la cour – attorney at law

73. The Conseil d'Etat was once asked by the French government to deliver an opinion
precisely on this point. It stated that the government’s practice of refusing the extradition
of nationals “finds no basis in a principle of constitutional value. None of the rights and
liberties of the citizen, as proclaimed by the Declaration of the Rights of Men and
Citizens of 1789 and by the preamble of the Constitution of 1946, implies that nationals
cannot be extradited [...] No doubt the laws adopted and the international conventions
signed by France attest to the authority of the rule that nationals are not extradited. But,
in support of this rule, there are no grounds for considering it as a fundamental principle
recognized by the laws of the Republic, having constitutional value by virtue of the
Preamble to the Constitution of 1946. »36.

74. Therefore, the French Constitution does not prevent the executive from extraditing
French citizens.

75. It follows from this opinion and the above that the decision to apply the principle against
the extradition of nationals is a matter for the executive, which could choose not to
enforce it and thus choose to extradite a national without violating French constitutional
law, European law or international law, taking into account the provisions of the
Extradition Treaty between the USA and France of 23 April 1996 which supersede
French law and do not prohibit the extradition of French nationals.

Conclusion

76. In the event that Ms Ghislaine Maxwell were to flee to France and become the subject
of an extradition request, and where she has already executed an irrevocable waiver of
her right to contest extradition, the Investigating Chamber would have to rule on the
legality of the extradition request in accordance with the procedure described in Part I.
Because the extradition of French nationals is not prohibited by the Constitution or the
Extradition Treaty between the USA and France, the Investigating Chamber would not
be legally bound to oppose to the extradition request. It would then become a matter for
the French government to decide on whether or not to issue an extradition decree against
Ms Ghislaine Maxwell.

77. In the recent past, I am not aware that the French authorities have had to address the
situation in which the United States sought extradition of a French citizen who was also

36 « Avis Consultatif, Conseil d’Etat, 24 November 1994, No. 356-641 », available at https://www.conseil-
etat.fr/jadefile/avisadm/356641.pdf

51, rue Ampère - 75017 paris - tél. 01 88 33 51 80 – fax. 01 88 33 51 81 wj@wjavocats.com - 21
www.wjavocats.com - palais C1652

DOJ-OGR-00002146