Using Technology to Fight Impunity: An Examination of International Criminal Accountability over Time in Cases of Extradition

Abstract

The study aims to examine how impunity in international and transnational crimes has significantly undermined the effectiveness of the global criminal justice system, particularly in cases involving extradition. Traditionally bound by the state sovereignty, political goodwill and inefficiency of their processes the extradition systems tended to find more people who committed serious crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and new cyber-enabled crimes able to escape justice processes. This paper will analyse how technological innovation has gradually changed international criminal accountability over the years, specifically addressing extradition practices. It follows the historical development of extradition from bilateral, diplomacy-based agreements to modern, digitally integrated frameworks. It is a critical analysis of how digital tools can be utilised to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and reliability of extradition and cross-border investigations, including biometric identification systems, artificial intelligence, blockchain-based evidence management, real-time communication networks, and digital mutual legal assistance platforms. The paper relies on the analysis of doctrine, case studies, and recent academic literature to identify how technology has minimised jurisdictional holes, expedited judicial collaboration, and enhanced evidential plausibility. Simultaneously, it identifies unresolved legal and ethical issues concerning data privacy, algorithmic bias, sovereignty, and uneven technological capabilities across states. The issue that is developed in the paper is that as much as technology has emerged as a critical tool in the war against impunity, it should be legitimised through strong legal protection, ethical governance, and fair global collaboration. In the end, the paper points out that technologically facilitated extradition is not only a possibility, but a challenge to develop an even smoother and rights-observing system of global criminal justice.