The Battisti case in the Brazilian supreme court raised many controversial issues about the status of foreigners in Brazil and the extradition process in the Brazilian law. The focus of this paper is more circumvented: the analysis of the legal reasons invoked by the Brazilian Supreme Court to justify the discretion of the president to extradite or not, after the authorization of the Brazilian Supreme Court. More precisely, in its legal reasoning, the Brazilian Supreme Court suggests that the president disposes of a great margin of discretion in foreign policy and that matters related to this subject lie beyond judicial cognizance. We will try to demonstrate that this legal reasoning is not in accordance with the Brazilian constitution. Moreover, other arguments could be raised to justify the Brazilian president's decision to not extradite Battisti.
executive power; international relations; extradition; foreign policy; judicial review