The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

APRIL 1989

An Outline of Extradition Law Part 2

same way as under Part III. 5 Its validity depends on Irish law. An invalid arrest will have the same consequences under Part II as under Part III. Identity Identity is as central a proof to Part II as it is to Part III and has already been considered. Documents Supporting the Request For admission under Part II, documents need merely "purport" to be signed or certified by a judge or magistrate of the requesting state and to be authenticated by the oath of some witness or by being sealed with the official seal of a Minister of State. 1 For the purpose of the Act, judicial notice is taken of all such official seals. The following documents are required: 1. Proof of the request by production of the Minister's order to the District Court to issue a warrant for arrest. 2 2. An original or authenticated copy order, in the case of conviction, sentence or detention, or an original or authenticated warrant of arrest or its equivalent. 3 3. A statement of the offence alleged giving its time and place of commission, its legal description and referring to relevant legal enactments in

Extradition For instance, Article 8 of the Treaty between Ireland and the United States requires that a request for extradition shall contain, inter alia, 'a statement of the pertinent facts of the case indicating as accurately as possible the time and place of commission of the offence' and, indeed, it is difficult to see how the learned District Justice could satisfy himself as to what, if any, is the corresponding offence in Irish law in the absence of such a state- ment." We will now shortly consider these proofs. Treaty. That Part II Applies The proof of this is the making of an order pursuant to section 8 of the Act. The order will either recite that the Government is satisfied that reciprocal facilities for extra- dition will be granted 1 or will recite the terms of the agreement. 2 The Statutory Instrument is handed into Court. The Request The request for extradition can only be made in respect of an offence which is punishable, both in Ireland and in the requesting State, by a maximum of at least one year's imprisonment. 1 When the Minister receives a request for extradition 2 he signifies this fact by order, and the District Justice will issue a warrant of arrest for the requested person. 3 The writer presumes that such an order is construed as proof of the request as, other than that, no presumption that a request has been made is contained in the Act and no exception to the rule against hearsay is made in respect of it. 4 The warrant is executed in the by Peter Cha r l e t on, B . A . ( Mod ), Bar r i s t er - a t -Law

EXTRADITION TO COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE UNITED KINGDOM (Part III) Extradition to the UK is directly dependent on statutory provisions. Outside the UK, Part II of the Act is only brought into force by the State entering into an agreement, or reciprocal arrangement, with a foreign state for extradition. Under section 8 of the Act, the Government, by statutory instru- ment, then applies the provision of Part II to that country 1 and recites the terms of the agreement in its order. The treaty then becomes part of the domestic law of the State. 2 Cases are brought before the District Court. As distinct from Part III, under Part II, the case before that Court is not largely formal but is a full hearing of the proofs and, unlike UK cases, the District Justice must consider any defence 3 to extradition which the prisoner raises. The proofs were succinctly put by Barrington J. in State (Gilliland) -v- Governor of Mountjoy Prison. 4 "Under Part II the substantial hearing on the merits of whether to extradite or not to extradite takes place in the District Court in accordance with the provisions of section 29 of the Act. In the course of his deliberations, the learned District Justice will have to be satisfied that Part II of the Act applies in relation to the requesting country and that the extra- dition of the person before the Court has been duly request- ed. In the course of doing this he will have to consider the original or an authentic copy of the conviction or warrant of arrest; a statement of each offence in respect of which extradition is sought; the relevant enactments of the re- questing country; the description furnished of the person claimed and any other document or evidence required under the relevant

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Peter Charleton.

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