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49 2001

EXTRADITION (EUROPEAN UNION CONVENTIONS) ACT, 2001

PART 4

Miscellaneous Provisions

Proceedings under Principal Act to be heard before High Court.

20. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution of “High Court” for “District Court” in each place that it occurs,

(b) the substitution of “judge of the High Court” for “judge of the District Court assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan District” in each place that it occurs,

(c) the deletion, in section 3, of the definition of “judge of the District Court assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan District” (inserted by section 3(b) of the Act of 1994 and amended by the Criminal Justice Act, 1999 ),

(d) the substitution, in section 27, of the following subsection for subsection (6) (inserted by section 8(b) of the Act of 1994):

“(6) A person arrested under a warrant issued under this section shall, unless the warrant is cancelled under subsection (5), be brought as soon as may be before a judge of the High Court and the judge shall remand the said person in custody or on bail pending—

(a) the receipt by him of a certificate of the Minister under section 26(1)(a) (inserted by section 7(a) of the Act of 1994) stating that the request for extradition has been duly made, or

(b) (in circumstances where the person is remanded in custody) the release of that person under section 35,

and for those purposes the judge shall have the same powers of remand as if that person were brought before him charged with an indictable offence.”,

(e) the substitution in section 48 of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) If during the period of 15 days referred to in subsection (1) an application is made by or on behalf of a person to whom that subsection applies for an order of habeas corpus, he shall not be delivered up while the application is pending.”,

(f) the substitution in section 29 of the following subsection for subsection (5):

“(5) No appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from an order of the High Court under this section, except on a point of law.”,

and

(g) the substitution in section 47 of the following subsection for subsection (5):

“(5) No appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from an order of the High Court under this section, except on a point of law.”.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, references in the Principal Act to extradition provisions shall include references to the Convention of 1995 and the Convention of 1996.

(3) The amendments effected by subsection (1) shall not operate to affect proceedings brought under the Extradition Acts, 1965 to 1994, before the commencement of this section, and accordingly the District Court shall, in relation to any such proceedings, have the same jurisdiction after such commencement that it had immediately before such commencement.

Laying of orders before Houses of Oireachtas.

21. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 4:

“4.—Every order made by the Government under this Act after the commencement of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act, 2001, shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”.

Evidence by affidavit.

22. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section:

“7B.—(1) In proceedings under this Act, evidence as to any matter to which such proceedings relate may be given by affidavit or by a statement in writing that purports to have been sworn—

(a) by the deponent in a place other than the State, and

(b) in the presence of a person duly authorised under the law of the place concerned to attest to the swearing of such a statement by a deponent,

howsoever such a statement is described under the law of that place.

(2) In proceedings referred to in subsection (1), the High Court may, if it considers that the interests of justice so require, direct that oral evidence of the matters described in the affidavit or statement concerned be given, and the court may, for the purpose of receiving oral evidence, adjourn the proceedings to a later date.”.

Amendment of section 8 of Principal Act.

23. —Section 8 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion of the following subsection:

“(1A) Where at any time after the making of an order under subsection (1) a country becomes a party to an extradition agreement to which that order applies, the Government may by order so declare and this Part shall upon the making of the second-mentioned order apply to that country.”,

(b) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) An order relating to an extradition agreement (other than an order under subsection (1A) (inserted by section 23 (a) of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act, 2001)) shall recite or embody the terms of the agreement and shall be evidence of the making of the agreement and of its terms.

(3A) An order under subsection (1A) shall in relation to the extradition agreement concerned recite or embody the terms of any reservation or declaration entered to that agreement by a country to which the order applies, and shall be evidence of the reservation or declaration (if any) and of its terms.

(3B) An order under subsection (2) shall recite or embody the terms of the amendment and shall be evidence of the making of the arrangement amending the extradition agreement concerned and of the terms of the amendment.”,

and

(c) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (8):

“(8) A notice of the making of each order under this section shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.”.

Evidence through television link by person outside State.

24. Section 29 of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992 , is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Without prejudice to section 13(1), in any criminal proceedings or proceedings under the Extradition Acts, 1965 to 2001, a person other than the accused or the person whose extradition is being sought, as the case may be, may, with the leave of the court, give evidence through a live television link.”.

Foreign seals.

25. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (3) of section 21 of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) with the consent of the requested country signified under the seal of a minister of state, ministry or department of state of that country or such other person as performs in that country functions the same as or similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act, as may be appropriate, which seal shall be judicially noticed, or”,

and

(b) the substitution in paragraph (a) of section 39(2) of “a minister of state, ministry or department of state of that country or such other person as performs in that country functions the same as or similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act, as may be appropriate,” for “minister of state of that country”.

Corresponding offence.

26. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion in section 42 of the following subsections:

“(2) For the purposes of this Part an offence under the law of a place to which this Part applies corresponds to an offence under the law of the State where the act constituting the offence under the law of that place would, if done in the State, constitute an offence under the law of the State punishable—

(a) on indictment, or

(b) on summary conviction by imprisonment for a maximum term of not less than 6 months or by a more severe penalty.

(3) For the purposes of this Part, an offence specified in a warrant corresponds with an offence under the law of the State if—

(a) the act constituting the offence so specified would, if done in the State on the day the warrant is produced under section 43(1)(b), constitute an offence under the law of the State, or

(b) in the case of an offence so specified consisting of one or more acts including any act committed in the State, such act constituted an offence under the law of the State on the day on which it was committed or alleged to have been committed.”.

Amendment of section 3 of Act of 1987.

27. —Section 3 of the Act of 1987 is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (3)(a) of the following subparagraphs:

“(iia) an offence within the scope of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, done at Geneva on the 12th day of August, 1949,

(iib) an offence within the scope of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, done at Geneva on the 12th day of August, 1949,

(iic) an offence within the scope of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War done at Geneva on the 12th day of August, 1949,

(iid) an offence within the scope of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of War done at Geneva on the 12th day of August, 1949,”.