Competing request

New Zealand

International Crimes and International Criminal Court Act 2000

PART 4 - ARREST AND SURRENDER OF PERSON TO ICC

Restrictions on surrender

55.
Refusal of surrender—

(2)The Minister may refuse a request by the ICC for the surrender of a person if—

(a)there are competing requests from the ICC and a State that is not a party to the Statute relating to the same conduct and section 63(4) applies; or

(b)there are competing requests from the ICC and a State that is not a party to the Statute relating to different conduct and section 64(3) applies.

PART 4 - ARREST AND SURRENDER OF PERSON TO ICC

Restrictions on surrender

61.
Request from ICC and other State relating to same conduct—

If a request for surrender of a person is received from the ICC and 1 or more States also request the extradition of the person for the same conduct that forms the basis of the crime for which the ICC seeks the person's surrender, the Minister—

(a)must notify the ICC and the requesting State of that fact:

(b)must determine, in accordance with section 62 or section 63, but despite section 99 of the Extradition Act 1999, whether the person is to be surrendered to the ICC or to the requesting State.

Cf Statute, article 90(1)

62.
Procedure where competing request from State Party—

(1)If section 61 applies and the requesting State is a party to the Statute, priority must be given to the request from the ICC if—

(a)the ICC has, under article 18 or article 19 of the Statute, made a determination that the case in respect of which surrender is sought is admissible and that determination takes into account the investigation or prosecution conducted by the requesting State in respect of its request for extradition; or

(b)the ICC makes such a determination after receiving notification of the competing request.

(2)If the request is one to which subsection (1)(b) relates, then, pending the ICC's determination,—

(a)the steps required to be taken under the Extradition Act 1999 in relation to a request for extradition may continue to be taken; but

(b)No person may be surrendered under that Act unless and until the ICC makes its decision on admissibility and determines that the case is inadmissible.

Cf Statute, article 90(2)

63.
Procedure where competing request from non-State Party—

(1)If section 61 applies and the requesting State is not a party to the Statute, priority must be given to the request for surrender from the ICC if—

(a)New Zealand is not under an international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State; and

(b)the ICC has determined under article 18 or article 19 of the Statute that the case is admissible.

(2)If section 61 applies and the requesting State is not a party to the Statute, the request for extradition may continue to be dealt with if—

(a)New Zealand is not under an international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State; and

(b)the ICC has not yet determined under article 18 and article 19 of the Statute that the case is admissible.

(3)Despite subsection (2), no person may be surrendered under the Extradition Act 1999 unless and until the ICC makes its decision on admissibility and determines that the case is inadmissible.

(4)If section 61 applies, the requesting State is not a party to the Statute, and New Zealand is under an international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, the Minister must determine whether to surrender the person to the ICC or extradite the person to the requesting State.

(5)Section 99(1) of the Extradition Act 1999 does not apply to a determination made under subsection (4).

(6)In making the determination under subsection (4), the Minister must consider all the relevant factors including, without limitation,—

(a)the respective dates of the requests; and

(b)the interests of the requesting State, including, if relevant, whether the crime was committed in its territory and the nationality of the victims and of the person sought; and

(c)the possibility of subsequent surrender between the ICC and the requesting State.

Cf Statute, article 90(4)-(6)

64.
Request from ICC and other State relating to different conduct—

(1)If a request for surrender of a person is received from the ICC and a request for the extradition of that person is received from 1 or more States for conduct other than that which constitutes the crime for which the ICC seeks the person's surrender, the Minister must determine whether the person is to be surrendered to the ICC or to the requesting State.

(2)If New Zealand is not under an existing international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, priority must be given to the request from the ICC.

(3)If New Zealand is under an existing international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, the Minister must determine whether to surrender the person to the ICC or to extradite the person to the requesting State.

(4)In making the determination under subsection (3), the Minister must consider all the relevant factors, including, without limitation, those matters specified in section 63 of this Act and section 99 of the Extradition Act 1999, but must give special consideration to the relative seriousness of the offences for which surrender is sought.

Cf Statute, article 90(7)

65.
Notification of decision on extradition to requesting State—

(1)If, following notification under article 90 of the Statute, the ICC has determined that a case is inadmissible and the Minister subsequently refuses extradition of the person to the requesting State under the Extradition Act 1999, the Minister must notify the ICC of this decision.

(2)The obligation in this section is in addition to the requirement in section 30 for the Minister to respond formally to the request from the ICC.

Cf Statute, article 90(8)

66.
Conflict with obligations to another State—

(1)This section applies if—

(a)the ICC makes a request for surrender; and

(b)the ICC has not previously made a final determination on whether or not article 98 of the Statute applies to that request; and

(c)a request is made to the ICC to determine whether or not article 98 of the Statute applies to the request for surrender.

(2)If this section applies, the Minister may postpone the request for surrender until the ICC advises whether or not it intends to proceed with the request for surrender.

(3)If the ICC advises that it does not intend to proceed with the request, surrender must be refused.

(4)If the ICC advises that it intends to proceed with the request for surrender, and there is no other ground for refusing or postponing the request, the request must continue to be dealt with under this Part.

Cf Statute, article 98

PART 5 - DOMESTIC PROCEDURES FOR OTHER TYPES OF CO-OPERATION

Restrictions on provision of assistance

114.
Refusal of assistance—

(2)The Attorney-General may refuse a request by the ICC to which this Part applies if—

(b)there are competing requests from the ICC and a State that is not a party to the Statute relating to the same conduct and section 63(4) (as applied by section 119) applies; or

(c)there are competing requests from the ICC and a State that is not a party to the Statute relating to different conduct and section 64(3) (as applied by section 119) applies.

PART 5 - DOMESTIC PROCEDURES FOR OTHER TYPES OF CO-OPERATION

Restrictions on provision of assistance

115.
Postponement of execution of assistance—

(1)The Attorney-General may postpone the execution of a request for assistance under this Part if, and only if,—

(c)there are competing requests from the ICC and from another State to which New Zealand is under an international obligation and section 119(2)(a) applies; or

PART 5 - DOMESTIC PROCEDURES FOR OTHER TYPES OF CO-OPERATION

Restrictions on provision of assistance

119.
Competing requests—

(1)If the Attorney-General receives competing requests for assistance from the ICC and from another State to which New Zealand is under an obligation to respond, the Attorney-General must endeavour, after consultation with the ICC and the other State, to satisfy both requests.

(2)For the purposes of subsection (1), the Attorney-General may do either or both of the following:

(a)postpone the execution of either of the competing requests:

(b)attach conditions to the provision of assistance under either or both of the requests.

(3)If it is not possible to resolve the issue by consultation, the method of dealing with the competing requests must be resolved in accordance with article 90 of the Statute, and sections 61 to 65 apply with any necessary modifications.

Cf Statute, articles 90, 93(9)(a)

Rome Statute

Article 90 Competing requests

1. A State Party which receives a request from the Court for the surrender of a person under article 89 shall, if it also receives a request from any other State for the extradition of the same person for the same conduct which forms the basis of the crime for which the Court seeks the person's surrender, notify the Court and the requesting State of that fact.

2. Where the requesting State is a State Party, the requested State shall give priority to the request from the Court if:

(a) The Court has, pursuant to article 18 or 19, made a determination that the case in respect of which surrender is sought is admissible and that determination takes into account the investigation or prosecution conducted by the requesting State in respect of its request for extradition; or

(b) The Court makes the determination described in subparagraph (a) pursuant to the requested State's notification under paragraph 1.

3. Where a determination under paragraph 2 (a) has not been made, the requested State may, at its discretion, pending the determination of the Court under paragraph 2 (b), proceed to deal with the request for extradition from the requesting State but shall not extradite the person until the Court has determined that the case is inadmissible. The Court's determination shall be made on an expedited basis.

4. If the requesting State is a State not Party to this Statute the requested State, if it is not under an international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, shall give priority to the request for surrender from the Court, if the Court has determined that the case is admissible.

5. Where a case under paragraph 4 has not been determined to be admissible by the Court, the requested State may, at its discretion, proceed to deal with the request for extradition from the requesting State.

6. In cases where paragraph 4 applies except that the requested State is under an existing international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State not Party to this Statute, the requested State shall determine whether to surrender the person to the Court or extradite the person to the requesting State. In making its decision, the requested State shall consider all the relevant factors, including but not limited to:

(a) The respective dates of the requests;

(b) The interests of the requesting State including, where relevant, whether the crime was committed in its territory and the nationality of the victims and of the person sought; and

(c) The possibility of subsequent surrender between the Court and the requesting State.

7. Where a State Party which receives a request from the Court for the surrender of a person also receives a request from any State for the extradition of the same person for conduct other than that which constitutes the crime for which the Court seeks the person's surrender:

(a) The requested State shall, if it is not under an existing international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, give priority to the request from the Court;

(b) The requested State shall, if it is under an existing international obligation to extradite the person to the requesting State, determine whether to surrender the person to the Court or to extradite the person to the requesting State. In making its decision, the requested State shall consider all the relevant factors, including but not limited to those set out in paragraph 6, but shall give special consideration to the relative nature and gravity of the conduct in question.

Where pursuant to a notification under this article, the Court has determined a case to be inadmissible, and subsequently extradition to the requesting State is refused, the requested State shall notify the Court of this decision.