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The governments signatory hereto, being members of the
Council of Europe, Disclaimer
Considering that
the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its
members;
Considering that this
purpose can be attained by the conclusion of agreements and by common action in
legal matters;
Considering that the
acceptance of uniform rules with regard to extradition is likely to assist this
work of unification,
Have agreed as
follows:
Article 1 - Obligation to
extradite
The Contracting Parties
undertake to surrender to each other, subject to the provisions and conditions
laid down in this Convention, all persons against whom the competent authorities
of the requesting Party are proceeding for an offence or who are wanted by the
said authorities for the carrying out of a sentence or detention order.
Article 2 - Extraditable offences
1. Extradition shall be granted in
respect of offences punishable under the laws of the requesting Party and of the
requested Party by deprivation of liberty or under a detention order for a
maximum period of at least one year or by a more severe penalty. Where a
conviction and prison sentence have occurred or a detention order has been made
in the territory of the requesting Party, the punishment awarded must have been
for a period of at least four months.
2. If the request for extradition includes several separate
offences each of which is punishable under the laws of the requesting Party and
the requested Party by deprivation of liberty or under a detention order, but of
which some do not fulfil the condition with regard to the amount of punishment
which may be awarded, the requested Party shall also have the right to grant
extradition for the latter offences.
3. Any Contracting Party whose law does not allow extradition
for certain of the offences referred to in paragraph 1 of this article may, in
so far as it is concerned, exclude such offences from the application of this
Convention.
4. Any Contracting
Party which wishes to avail itself of the right provided for in paragraph 3 of
this article shall, at the time of deposit of its instrument of ratification or
accession, transmit to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe either a
list of the offences for which extradition is allowed or a list of those for
which it is excluded and shall at the same time indicate the legal provisions
which allow or exclude extradition. The Secretary General of the Council shall
forward these lists to the other signatories.
5. If extradition is subsequently excluded in respect of other
offences by the law of a Contracting Party, that Party shall notify the
Secretary General. The Secretary General shall inform the other signatories.
Such notification shall not take effect until three months from the date of its
receipt by the Secretary General.
6. Any Party which avails itself of the right provided for in paragraphs 4 or 5
of this article may at any time apply this Convention to offences which have
been excluded from it. It shall inform the Secretary General of the Council of
such changes, and the Secretary General shall inform the other signatories.
7. Any Party may apply reciprocity
in respect of any offences excluded from the application of the Convention under
this article.
Article 3 -
Political offences
1 Extradition
shall not be granted if the offence in respect of which it is requested is
regarded by the requested Party as a political offence or as an offence
connected with a political offence.
2 The same rule shall apply if the requested Party has
substantial grounds for believing that a request for extradition for an ordinary
criminal offence has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a
person on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or
that that person's position may be prejudiced for any of these reasons.
3 The taking or attempted taking of the
life of a Head of State or a member of his family shall not be deemed to be a
political offence for the purposes of this Convention.
4 This article shall not affect any obligations which the
Contracting Parties may have undertaken or may undertake under any other
international convention of a multilateral character.
Article 4 - Military offences
Extradition for offences under military law which are not
offences under ordinary criminal law is excluded from the application of this
Convention.
Article 5 - Fiscal
offences
Extradition shall be
granted, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, for offences in
connection with taxes, duties, customs and exchange only if the Contracting
Parties have so decided in respect of any such offence or category of offences.
Article 6 - Extradition of
nationals
1 a A Contracting Party
shall have the right to refuse extradition of its nationals.
b Each Contracting Party may, by a
declaration made at the time of signature or of deposit of its instrument of
ratification or accession, define as far as it is concerned the term "nationals"
within the meaning of this Convention.
c Nationality shall be determined as at the time of the decision
concerning extradition. If, however, the person claimed is first recognised as a
national of the requested Party during the period between the time of the
decision and the time contemplated for the surrender, the requested Party may
avail itself of the provision contained in sub-paragraph a of this article.
2 If the requested Party does not
extradite its national, it shall at the request of the requesting Party submit
the case to its competent authorities in order that proceedings may be taken if
they are considered appropriate. For this purpose, the files, information and
exhibits relating to the offence shall be transmitted without charge by the
means provided for in Article 12, paragraph 1. The requesting Party shall be
informed of the result of its request.
Article 7 - Place of commission
1 The requested Party may refuse to extradite a person claimed
for an offence which is regarded by its law as having been committed in whole or
in part in its territory or in a place treated as its territory.
2 When the offence for which extradition
is requested has been committed outside the territory of the requesting Party,
extradition may only be refused if the law of the requested Party does not allow
prosecution for the same category of offence when committed outside the latter
Party's territory or does not allow extradition for the offence concerned.
Article 8 - Pending proceedings
for the same offences
The
requested Party may refuse to extradite the person claimed if the competent
authorities of such Party are proceeding against him in respect of the offence
or offences for which extradition is requested.
Article 9 - Non bis in idem
Extradition shall not be granted if final judgment has been
passed by the competent authorities of the requested Party upon the person
claimed in respect of the offence or offences for which extradition is
requested. Extradition may be refused if the competent authorities of the
requested Party have decided either not to institute or to terminate proceedings
in respect of the same offence or offences.
Article 10 - Lapse of time
Extradition shall not be granted when the person claimed has,
according to the law of either the requesting or the requested Party, become
immune by reason of lapse of time from prosecution or punishment.
Article 11 - Capital punishment
If the offence for which extradition is
requested is punishable by death under the law of the requesting Party, and if
in respect of such offence the death-penalty is not provided for by the law of
the requested Party or is not normally carried out, extradition may be refused
unless the requesting Party gives such assurance as the requested Party
considers sufficient that the death-penalty will not be carried out.
Article 12 - The request and supporting
documents
1 The request shall be
in writing and shall be communicated through the diplomatic channel. Other means
of communication may be arranged by direct agreement between two or more
Parties.
2 The request shall be supported by:
a the original or an authenticated copy
of the conviction and sentence or detention order immediately enforceable or of
the warrant of arrest or other order having the same effect and issued in
accordance with the procedure laid down in the law of the requesting Party;
b a statement of the offences for
which extradition is requested. The time and place of their commission, their
legal descriptions and a reference to the relevant legal provisions shall be set
out as accurately as possible; and
c a copy of the relevant enactments or, where this is not possible, a statement
of the relevant law and as accurate a description as possible of the person
claimed, together with any other information which will help to establish his
identity and nationality.
Article
13 - Supplementary information
If
the information communicated by the requesting Party is found to be insufficient
to allow the requested Party to make a decision in pursuance of this Convention,
the latter Party shall request the necessary supplementary information and may
fix a time-limit for the receipt thereof.
Article 14 - Rule of speciality
1 A person who has been extradited shall not be proceeded
against, sentenced or detained with a view to the carrying out of a sentence or
detention order for any offence committed prior to his surrender other than that
for which he was extradited, nor shall he be for any other reason restricted in
his personal freedom, except in the following cases:
a when the Party which surrendered him consents. A
request for consent shall be submitted, accompanied by the documents mentioned
in Article 12 and a legal record of any statement made by the extradited person
in respect of the offence concerned. Consent shall be given when the offence for
which it is requested is itself subject to extradition in accordance with the
provisions of this Convention;
b
when that person, having had an opportunity to leave the territory of the Party
to which he has been surrendered, has not done so within 45 days of his final
discharge, or has returned to that territory after leaving it.
2 The requesting Party may, however,
take any measures necessary to remove the person from its territory, or any
measures necessary under its law, including proceedings by default, to prevent
any legal effects of lapse of time.
3 When the description of the offence charged is altered in the
course of proceedings, the extradited person shall only be proceeded against or
sentenced in so far as the offence under its new description is shown by its
constituent elements to be an offence which would allow extradition.
Article 15 - Re-extradition to a third state
Except as provided for in Article 14,
paragraph 1.b, the requesting Party shall not, without the consent of the
requested Party, surrender to another Party or to a third State a person
surrendered to the requesting Party and sought by the said other Party or third
State in respect of offences committed before his surrender. The requested Party
may request the production of the documents mentioned in Article 12, paragraph
2.
Article 16 - Provisional
arrest
1 In case of urgency the
competent authorities of the requesting Party may request the provisional arrest
of the person sought. The competent authorities of the requested Party shall
decide the matter in accordance with its law.
2 The request for provisional arrest shall state that one of
the documents mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 2.a, exists and that it is
intended to send a request for extradition. It shall also state for what offence
extradition will be requested and when and where such offence was committed and
shall so far as possible give a description of the person sought.
3 A request for provisional arrest
shall be sent to the competent authorities of the requested Party either through
the diplomatic channel or direct by post or telegraph or through the
International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) or by any other means
affording evidence in writing or accepted by the requested Party. The requesting
authority shall be informed without delay of the result of its request.
4 Provisional arrest may be terminated
if, within a period of 18 days after arrest, the requested Party has not
received the request for extradition and the documents mentioned in Article 12.
It shall not, in any event, exceed 40 days from the date of such arrest. The
possibility of provisional release at any time is not excluded, but the
requested Party shall take any measures which it considers necessary to prevent
the escape of the person sought.
5 Release shall not prejudice re-arrest and extradition if a request for
extradition is received subsequently.
Article 17 - Conflicting requests
If extradition is requested concurrently by more than
one State, either for the same offence or for different offences, the requested
Party shall make its decision having regard to all the circumstances and
especially the relative seriousness and place of commission of the offences, the
respective dates of the requests, the nationality of the person claimed and the
possibility of subsequent extradition to another State.
Article 18 - Surrender of the person to be extradited
1 The requested Party shall
inform the requesting Party by the means mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 1,
of its decision with regard to the extradition.
2 Reasons shall be given for any complete or partial rejection.
3 If the request is agreed to,
the requesting Party shall be informed of the place and date of surrender and of
the length of time for which the person claimed was detained with a view to
surrender.
4 Subject to the
provisions of paragraph 5 of this article, if the person claimed has not been
taken over on the appointed date, he may be released after the expiry of 15 days
and shall in any case be released after the expiry of 30 days. The requested
Party may refuse to extradite him for the same offence.
5 If circumstances beyond its control prevent a Party
from surrendering or taking over the person to be extradited, it shall notify
the other Party. The two Parties shall agree a new date for surrender and the
provisions of paragraph 4 of this article shall apply.
Article 19 - Postponed or conditional surrender
1 The requested Party may, after making
its decision on the request for extradition, postpone the surrender of the
person claimed in order that he may be proceeded against by that Party or, if he
has already been convicted, in order that he may serve his sentence in the
territory of that Party for an offence other than that for which extradition is
requested.
2 The requested Party
may, instead of postponing surrender, temporarily surrender the person claimed
to the requesting Party in accordance with conditions to be determined by mutual
agreement between the Parties.
Article 20 - Handing over of property
1 The requested Party shall, in so far as its law permits and
at the request of the requesting Party, seize and hand over property:
a which may be required as evidence, or
b which has been acquired as a
result of the offence and which, at the time of the arrest, is found in the
possession of the person claimed or is discovered subsequently.
2 The property mentioned in paragraph 1
of this article shall be handed over even if extradition, having been agreed to,
cannot be carried out owing to the death or escape of the person claimed.
3 When the said property is liable to
seizure or confiscation in the territory of the requested Party, the latter may,
in connection with pending criminal proceedings, temporarily retain it or hand
it over on condition that it is returned.
4 Any rights which the requested Party or third parties may
have acquired in the said property shall be preserved. Where these rights exist,
the property shall be returned without charge to the requested Party as soon as
possible after the trial.
Article 21 - Transit
1 Transit
through the territory of one of the Contracting Parties shall be granted on
submission of a request by the means mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 1,
provided that the offence concerned is not considered by the Party requested to
grant transit as an offence of a political or purely military character having
regard to Articles 3 and 4 of this Convention.
2 Transit of a national, within the meaning of Article 6, of a
country requested to grant transit may be refused.
3 Subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 of this
article, it shall be necessary to produce the documents mentioned in Article 12,
paragraph 2.
4 If air transport
is used, the following provisions shall apply:
a when it is not intended to land, the requesting Party shall
notify the Party over whose territory the flight is to be made and shall certify
that one of the documents mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 2.a exists. In the
case of an unscheduled landing, such notification shall have the effect of a
request for provisional arrest as provided for in Article 16, and the requesting
Party shall submit a formal request for transit;
b when it is intended to land, the requesting Party shall
submit a formal request for transit.
5 A Party may, however, at the time of signature or of the
deposit of its instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Convention,
declare that it will only grant transit of a person on some or all of the
conditions on which it grants extradition. In that event, reciprocity may be
applied.
6 The transit of the
extradited person shall not be carried out through any territory where there is
reason to believe that his life or his freedom may be threatened by reason of
his race, religion, nationality or political opinion.
Article 22 - Procedure
Except where this Convention otherwise provides, the procedure
with regard to extradition and provisional arrest shall be governed solely by
the law of the requested Party.
Article 23 - Language to be used
The documents to be produced shall be in the language of the requesting or
requested Party.
The requested Party may require a
translation into one of the official languages of the Council of Europe to be
chosen by it.
Article 24 -
Expenses
1 Expenses incurred in
the territory of the requested Party by reason of extradition shall be borne by
that Party.
2 Expenses incurred
by reason of transit through the territory of a Party requested to grant transit
shall be borne by the requesting Party.
3 In the event of extradition from a non-metropolitan territory
of the requested Party, the expenses occasioned by travel between that territory
and the metropolitan territory of the requesting Party shall be borne by the
latter. The same rule shall apply to expenses occasioned by travel between the
non-metropolitan territory of the requested Party and its metropolitan
territory.
Article 25 -
Definition of "detention order"
For the purposes of this Convention, the expression "detention order" means any
order involving deprivation of liberty which has been made by a criminal court
in addition to or instead of a prison sentence.
Article 26 - Reservations
1 Any Contracting Party may, when signing this Convention or
when depositing its instrument of ratification or accession, make a reservation
in respect of any provision or provisions of the Convention.
2 Any Contracting Party which has made
a reservation shall withdraw it as soon as circumstances permit. Such withdrawal
shall be made by notification to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
3 A Contracting Party which has
made a reservation in respect of a provision of the Convention may not claim
application of the said provision by another Party save in so far as it has
itself accepted the provision.
Article 27 - Territorial application
1 This Convention shall apply to the metropolitan territories
of the Contracting Parties.
2 In
respect of France, it shall also apply to Algeria and to the overseas
Departments and, in respect of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, to the Channel Islands and to the Isle of Man.
3 The Federal Republic of Germany may extend the
application of this Convention to the Land of Berlin by notice addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who shall notify the other Parties
of such declaration.
4 By direct
arrangement between two or more Contracting Parties, the application of this
Convention may be extended, subject to the conditions laid down in the
arrangement, to any territory of such Parties, other than the territories
mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this article, for whose international
relations any such Party is responsible.
Article 28 - Relations between this Convention and bilateral
Agreements
1 This Convention
shall, in respect of those countries to which it applies, supersede the
provisions of any bilateral treaties, conventions or agreements governing
extradition between any two Contracting Parties.
2 The Contracting Parties may conclude between themselves
bilateral or multilateral agreements only in order to supplement the provisions
of this Convention or to facilitate the application of the principles contained
therein.
3 Where, as between two
or more Contracting Parties, extradition takes place on the basis of a uniform
law, the Parties shall be free to regulate their mutual relations in respect of
extradition exclusively in accordance with such a system notwithstanding the
provisions of this Convention. The same principle shall apply as between two or
more Contracting Parties each of which has in force a law providing for the
execution in its territory of warrants of arrest issued in the territory of the
other Party or Parties. Contracting Parties which exclude or may in the future
exclude the application of this Convention as between themselves in accordance
with this paragraph shall notify the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
accordingly. The Secretary General shall inform the other Contracting Parties of
any notification received in accordance with this paragraph.
Article 29 - Signature, ratification and entry into force
1. This Convention shall be open
to signature by the members of the Council of Europe. It shall be ratified. The
instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the
Council.
2. The Convention shall
come into force 90 days after the date of deposit of the third instrument of
ratification.
3. As regards any
signatory ratifying subsequently the Convention shall come into force 90 days
after the date of the deposit of its instrument of ratification.
Article 30 - Accession
1. The Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe may invite any State not a member of the Council to accede to
this Convention, provided that the resolution containing such invitation
receives the unanimous agreement of the members of the Council who have ratified
the Convention.
2. Accession
shall be by deposit with the Secretary General of the Council of an instrument
of accession, which shall take effect 90 days after the date of its deposit.
Article 31 - Denunciation
Any Contracting Party may denounce this
Convention in so far as it is concerned by giving notice to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe. Denunciation shall take effect six months
after the date when the Secretary General of the Council received such
notification.
Article 32 -
Notifications
The Secretary
General of the Council of Europe shall notify the members of the Council and the
government of any State which has acceded to this Convention of:
a. the deposit of any instrument of
ratification or accession;
b.
the date of entry into force of this Convention;
c. any declaration made in accordance with the provisions of
Article 6, paragraph 1, and of Article 21, paragraph 5;
d. any reservation made in accordance with Article 26,
paragraph 1;
e. the withdrawal
of any reservation in accordance with Article 26, paragraph 2;
f. any notification of denunciation
received in accordance with the provisions of Article 31 and by the date on
which such denunciation will take effect.
In witness
whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Convention.
Done at Paris, this
13th day of December 1957, in English and French, both texts being equally
authentic, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the archives of the
Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit
certified copies to the signatory governments.
Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, 1994-1996
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