The European Union Extradition Regulations 2002

• Citation: S.I. 2002/419
• Sections: 84

Section 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union Extradition Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on a date to be notified in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes.

(2) In these Regulations “ the Act ” means the Extradition Act 1989 .

Section 2 Application of the 1989 Act

(1) The Act is amended as set out in Schedule 9 to these Regulations.

(2) These Regulations apply only to requests for return made by a foreign state to the United Kingdom or by the United Kingdom to a foreign state after the coming into force of the Regulations.

(3) Where a state has made a declaration under Article 6(3) of the 1996 Convention, in the application of the Act by virtue of the European Convention on Extradition Order 2001 , Article 5 of the European Convention on Extradition shall not apply, and extradition shall not be refused to that state in respect of an offence which is connected with excise, value added tax or customs.

Section 1

The aim of this Convention is to facilitate the application, between the Member States of the European Union, of the European Convention on Extradition, by supplementing its provisions.

Section 1

Pursuant to Article 2, any person who is the subject of a request for provisional arrest in accordance with Article 16 of the European Convention on Extradition shall be surrendered in accordance with Articles 4 to 11 and Article 12(1) of the present Convention.

Section 1

The following information from the requesting State shall be regarded as adequate for the information of the arrested person for the purpose of applying Articles 6 and 7 and for the competent authority referred to in Article 5(2):

(a) the identity of the person sought;

(b) the authority requesting the arrest;

(c) the existence of an arrest warrant or other document having the same legal effect or of an enforceable judgment;

(d) the nature and legal description of the offence;

(e) a description of the circumstances in which the offence was committed, including the time, place and degree of involvement of the person sought;

(f) in so far as possible, the consequences of the offence.

Section 1

The consent of the arrested person shall be given in accordance with Articles 6 and 7.

Section 1

The consent of the arrested person and, if appropriate, his express renunciation of entitlement to the speciality rule, shall be given before a competent judicial authority of the requested State in accordance with the national law of that State.

Section 1

The Requested State shall immediately notify the requesting State of the consent of the person. So that the requesting State may submit, where applicable, a request for extradition, the requested State shall notify it, no later than 10 days after provisional arrest, whether or not the person has given his consent.

Section 1

Notwithstanding the rules laid down in Article 18(1) of the European Convention on Extradition, the extradition decision taken pursuant to the simplified procedure and the information concerning the simplified extradition procedure shall be notified directly between the competent authority of the requested State and the authority of the requesting State which has requested provisional arrest.

Section 1

Surrender shall take place within 20 days of the date on which the extradition decision was notified under the conditions laid down in Article 10(2).

Section 1

Where an arrested person has given his consent after expiry of the deadline of 10 days laid down in Article 8, the requested State:

shall implement the simplified procedure as provided for in this Convention if a request for extradition within the meaning of Article 12 of the European Convention on Extradition has not yet been received by it;

may use this simplified procedure if a request for extradition within the meaning of Article 12 of the European Convention on Extradition has reached it in the meantime.

Section 1

This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. The instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. The Secretary-General of the Council shall notify all Member States of such deposit.

Section 1

This Convention shall be open to accession by any State that becomes a member of the European Union.

Section 2

Paragraph 1 shall not affect the application of more favourable provisions in the bilateral and multilateral agreements in force between Member States.

Section 2

The surrender referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be subject to submission of a request for extradition or the documents required by Article 12 of the European Convention on Extradition.

Section 2

Notwithstanding paragraph 1, further information may be requested if the information provided for in the said paragraph is insufficient to allow the competent authority of the requested State to give agreement to the surrender.

Section 2

The competent authority of the requested State shall give its agreement in accordance with its national procedures.

Section 2

Each Member State shall adopt the measures necessary to ensure that consent and, where appropriate, renunciation, as referred to in paragraph 1, are established in such a way as to show that the person concerned has expressed them voluntarily and in full awareness of the consequences. To that end, the arrested person shall have the right to legal counsel.

Section 2

Notification referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made directly between the competent authorities.

Section 2

The decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be notified at the latest within 20 days of the date on which the person consented.

Section 2

After the deadline laid down in paragraph 1, if the person is being held, he shall be released on the territory of the requested State.

Section 2

Where no request for provisional arrest has been made, and where consent has been given after receipt of a request for extradition, the requested State may avail itself of the simplified procedure as provided for in this Convention.

Section 2

This Convention shall enter into force 90 days after the date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance and approval by the last Member State to carry out this formality.

Section 2

The text of this Convention in the language of the acceding State, drawn up by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and approved by all the Member States, shall be equally authentic with the other authentic texts. The Secretary-General shall transmit a certified true copy of the text to each Member State.

Section 3

Consent and, where appropriate, renunciation, as referred to in paragraph 1, shall be recorded; the recording procedure shall be in accordance with the national law of the requested State.

Section 3

Should surrender of the person within the deadline laid down in paragraph 1 be prevented by circumstances beyond its control, the authority concerned referred to in Article 10(1) shall so inform the other authority. The two authorities shall agree on a new surrender date. In that event, surrender will take place within 20 days of the new date thus agreed. If the person in question is still being held after expiry of this period, he shall be released.

Section 3

Upon deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, each Member State shall state whether it intends to apply paragraph 1, second indent, and paragraph 2 and, if so, under what conditions.

Section 3

Until this Convention enters into force, any Member State may, when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, or at any other date, declare that the Convention shall apply to it in its relations with Member States that have made the same declaration 90 days after the date of deposit of its declaration.

Section 3

The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

Section 4

Consent and, where appropriate, renunciation, as referred to in paragraph 1, may not be revoked. Upon deposit of their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, Member States may indicate, in a declaration, that consent and, where appropriate, renunciation may be revoked, in accordance with the rules applicable under national law. In this case, the period between the notification of consent and that of its revocation shall not be taken into consideration in establishing the periods provided for in Article 16(4) of the European Convention on Extradition.

Section 4

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply in cases where the requested State wishes to make use of Article 19 of the European Convention on Extradition.

Section 4

Any declaration made pursuant to Article 9 shall take effect 30 days after deposit thereof, but no earlier than the date of the entry into force of this Convention or of the application thereof of the Member State concerned.

Section 4

This Convention shall enter into force with respect to any State that accedes to it 90 days after the deposit of its instrument of accession or the date of entry into force of the Convention if it has not already entered into force at the time of expiry of the said period of 90 days.

Section 5

This Convention shall apply only to requests submitted after the date on which it enters into force or is applied between the requested State and the requesting State.

Section 5

Where this Convention is not yet in force at the time of the deposit of their instrument of accession, Article 16(3) shall apply to acceding Member States.

Section 1

The purpose of this Convention is to supplement the provisions and facilitate the application between the Member States of the European Union:

of the European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957 (hereinafter referred to as “European Convention on Extradition”),

the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism of 27 January 1977 (hereinafter referred to as “European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism”),

the Convention of 19 June 1990 applying the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders in relations between the Member States which are party to that Convention, and

the first chapter of the Treaty on Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands of 27 June 1962, as amended by the Protocol of 11 May 1974 (hereinafter referred to as the “Benelux Treaty”) in relations between the Member States of the Benelux Economic Union.

Section 1

Extradition shall be granted in respect of offences which are punishable under the law of the requesting Member State by deprivation of liberty or a detention order for a maximum period of at least 12 months and under the law of the requested Member State by deprivation of liberty or a detention order for a maximum period of at least six months.

Section 1

Where the offence for which extradition is requested is classified by the law of the requesting Member State as a conspiracy or an association to commit offences and is punishable by a maximum term of deprivation of liberty or a detention order of at least 12 months, extradition shall not be refused on the ground that the law of the requested Member State does not provide for the same facts to be an offence, provided the conspiracy or the association is to commit:

(a) one or more of the offences referred to in Articles 1 and 2 of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism; or

(b) any other offence punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of a maximum of at least 12 months in the field of drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime or other acts of violence against the life, physical integrity or liberty of a person, or creating a collective danger for persons.

Section 1

For the purposes of applying this Convention, no offence may be regarded by the requested Member State as a political offence, as an offence connected with a political offence or an offence inspired by political motives.

Section 1

With regard to taxes, duties, customs and exchange, extradition shall also be granted under the terms of this Convention, the European Convention on Extradition and the Benelux Treaty in respect of offences which correspond under the law of the requested Member State to a similar offence.

Section 1

Extradition may not be refused on the ground that the person claimed is a national of the requested Member State within the meaning of Article 6 of the European Convention on Extradition.

Section 1

Extradition may not be refused on the ground that the prosecution or punishment of the person would be statute-barred according to the law of the requested Member State.

Section 1

A person who has been extradited may, in respect of offences committed before his surrender other than those upon which the request for extradition was based, without it being necessary to obtain the consent of the requested Member State:

(a) be prosecuted or tried where the offences are not punishable by deprivation of liberty;

(b) be prosecuted or tried in so far as the criminal proceedings do not give rise to the application of a measure restricting his personal liberty;

(c) be subjected to a penalty or a measure not involving the deprivation of liberty, including a financial penalty, or a measure in lieu thereof, even if it may restrict his personal liberty; or

(d) be prosecuted, tried, detained with a view to the execution of a sentence or of a detention order or subjected to any other restriction of his personal liberty if after his surrender he has expressly waived the benefit of the rule of speciality with regard to specific offences preceding his surrender.

Section 1

Article 15 of the European Convention on Extradition and Article 14(1) of the Benelux Treaty shall not apply to requests for re-extradition from one Member State to another.

Section 1

Each Member State shall designate a central authority or, where its constitutional system so requires, central authorities responsible for transmitting and receiving extradition requests and the necessary supporting documents, as well as any other official correspondence relating to extradition requests, unless otherwise provided for in this Convention.

Section 1

This Convention shall be subject to adoption by the Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Section 1

This Convention shall be open to accession by any State that becomes a member of the European Union.

Section 1

The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union shall act as depositary of this Convention.

Section 2

Paragraph 1 shall not affect the application of more favourable provisions in bilateral or multilateral agreements between Member States, nor, as provided for in Article 28(3) of the European Convention on Extradition, shall it affect extradition arrangements agreed on the basis of uniform or reciprocal laws providing for the execution in the territory of a Member State of warrants of arrest issued in the territory of another Member State.

Section 2

Extradition may not be refused on the grounds that the law of the requested Member State does not provide for the same type of detention order as the law of the requesting Member State.