PART FOUR – COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Article 16
(Cooperation Principles)
(1) Pursuant to Article 93 of the Rome Statute, all state authorities shall cooperate fully and in bona fide with the International Criminal Court for the purpose of providing legal assistance to that court.
(2) The contents of the request for providing legal assistance sent by the International Criminal Court shall be considered an official secret and may be published, fully or partly, only if this is necessary for execution of the request or for some other particularly relevant circumstances and with a previous approval by the International Criminal Court.
(3) In the proceedings of providing legal assistance to the International Criminal Court, the competent state authority shall also undertake the actions whose enforcement was not particularly requested by the International Criminal Court, if the enforcement of these actions
is directly connected with the purpose of providing legal assistance or when it is necessary to detect the perpetrators of the criminal offence and to collect the evidence necessary for the proceedings before the International Criminal Court or if the provision of these evidence would be rendered impossible or significantly more difficult.
States Parties shall ensure that there are procedures available under their national law for all of the forms of cooperation which are specified under this Part.
1. The Court may transmit a request for the arrest and surrender of a person, together with the material supporting the request outlined in article 91, to any State on the territory of which that person may be found and shall request the cooperation of that State in the arrest and surrender of such a person. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and the procedure under their national law, comply with requests for arrest and surrender.
1. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and under procedures of national law, comply with requests by the Court to provide the following assistance in relation to investigations or prosecutions:
(a) The identification and whereabouts of persons or the location of items;
(b) The taking of evidence, including testimony under oath, and the production of evidence, including expert opinions and reports necessary to the Court;
(c) The questioning of any person being investigated or prosecuted;
(d) The service of documents, including judicial documents;
(e) Facilitating the voluntary appearance of persons as witnesses or experts before the Court;
(f) The temporary transfer of persons as provided in paragraph 7;
(g) The examination of places or sites, including the exhumation and examination of grave sites;
(h) The execution of searches and seizures;
(i) The provision of records and documents, including official records and documents;
(j) The protection of victims and witnesses and the preservation of evidence;
(k) The identification, tracing and freezing or seizure of proceeds, property and assets and instrumentalities of crimes for the purpose of eventual forfeiture, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties; and
(l) Any other type of assistance which is not prohibited by the law of the requested State, with a view to facilitating the investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
1. Requests for assistance shall be executed in accordance with the relevant procedure under the law of the requested State and, unless prohibited by such law, in the manner specified in the request, including following any procedure outlined therein or permitting persons specified in the request to be present at and assist in the execution process.