Refusal of ICC request

Japan

Japan - Act on Cooperation with the International Criminal Court 2007 (2014) EN/Japanese

''Chapter II Cooperation with the ICC, Section 2 Provision of Evidence, etc., Subsection 1 Provision of Evidence, (Measures by the Minister of Justice) Article 6''

(1) Where the Minister of Justice has received documents sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 concerning a request for cooperation through provision of evidence, when the case does not fall under any of the following items, the Minister of Justice shall take the measures prescribed in the following paragraph or paragraph (3):
(i) when the request for cooperation competes with a request for assistance as prescribed in Article 1, item (i) of the Act on International Assistance in Investigations and Other Related Matters (Act No. 69 of 1980) (hereinafter referred to as "Investigation Assistance" in this item and Article 39, paragraph (1), item (ii)) and, where it is possible to give priority to such request for assistance pursuant to the provisions of the Statute, when the Minister of Justice finds it reasonable to provide said Investigation Assistance;
(ii) when complying with the request for cooperation would result in a breach of any of the obligations under international law prescribed in article 98, paragraph 1 of the Statute;
(iii) when complying with the request for cooperation would prejudice Japan's national security;
(iv) where the offense underlying the cooperation request is an offense prescribed in article 70, paragraph 1 of the Statute, when the act constituting the offense for which assistance is requested would not constitute a crime under the laws and regulations of Japan were it to have been carried out in Japan;
(v) when complying with the request for cooperation would risk obstructing an investigation or trial in a case that is connected with a crime other than the offense underlying the cooperation request, and that is being investigated by a Japanese public prosecutor, public prosecutor's assistant officer, or judicial police official or is pending before a Japanese court, and the Minister of Justice finds it unreasonable to immediately comply with said request; or
(vi) when there are other justifiable grounds for not immediately complying with the request for cooperation.
(2) The measures by the Minister of Justice pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be the measures under any of the following items, except in the case prescribed in the following paragraph:
(i) sending the relevant documents to the Chief Prosecutor of the appropriate District Public Prosecutor's Office and ordering the collection of evidence that is necessary for cooperation through provision of evidence;
(ii) sending documents concerning a request for cooperation through provision of evidence to the National Public Safety Commission; or
(iii) sending documents concerning a request for cooperation through provision of evidence to the Commandant of the Japan Coast Guard or to the head of any other national agency to which persons prescribed in Article 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Act No. 131 of 1948) who are to exercise the functions of judicial police officials belong.
(3) When the request for cooperation prescribed in paragraph (1) pertains to the provision of documents that are connected with a legal action and that are being retained by a court, a public prosecutor, or a judicial police officer, the Minister of Justice shall send the custodian of such documents the documents concerning the request for cooperation.
(4) When the Minister of Justice finds it necessary in order to take the measures prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs or in order to take other measures concerning cooperation through provision of evidence, he/she may conduct an inquiry into the whereabouts of the person concerned and other necessary matters.

''Chapter II Cooperation with the ICC, Section 2 Provision of Evidence, etc., Subsection 1 Provision of Evidence, (Notification of Non-cooperation)Article 12''
After taking measures under the provisions of Article 6, paragraph (2), item (ii) or (iii) or paragraph (3) of said Article, when the Minister of Justice finds that the case falls under any of the provisions of paragraph (1), items (i) through (iv) of said Article and decides not to cooperate through provision of evidence, he/she shall notify the person who received the documents that were sent concerning the request for cooperation through provision of evidence to that effect without delay.

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.

Article 93 Other forms of cooperation

4. In accordance with article 72, a State Party may deny a request for assistance, in whole or in part, only if the request concerns the production of any documents or disclosure of evidence which relates to its national security.