Refusal of ICC request

New Zealand

International War Crimes Tribunals Act 1995

Part 2
Arrest and surrender of person to a Tribunal

Arrest of persons

8 Cancellation of warrant

(1) Where the Attorney-General is satisfied that there are special circumstances that make it unjust or otherwise inappropriate for a warrant issued under section 7 to continue in force, the Attorney-General shall, by notice in writing, order the cancel-lation of the warrant.

(2) Where the Attorney-General orders the cancellation of a war¬rant under subsection (1) the warrant shall cease to have effect and any person arrested under the warrant shall be released, unless the person is otherwise liable to be detained in custody.

Part 2
Arrest and surrender of person to a Tribunal

Surrender of persons

15 Persons imprisoned under New Zealand law

(1) The Attorney-General shall not issue a surrender warrant if

(a) the person is serving a sentence of imprisonment in respect of an offence against the law of New Zealand ; and
(b) the Tribunal has been required to give adequate undertakings to the Attorney-General relating to

(i) the person's return to New Zealand to serve the remainder of the sentence once the person is no longer required to be detained by, or on the order of, the Tribunal ; and
(ii)the person's custody while travelling, and while in other countries, for the Tribunal's purposes ; and

(c) the Attorney-General is not satisfied that the Tribunal has given adequate undertakings relating to those matters.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the person is not taken to be serving a sentence of imprisonment if he or she has been released on parole or licence, or has been otherwise conditionally released, for the remainder of the sentence.

Part 7
Miscellaneous

57 Attorney-General may decline to comply with request in certain cases

The Attorney-General may decline to comply with a request to which section 21, 29, 30, 31, 35, or 41 applies where, in the Attorney-General's opinion,—

(a) to comply with the request would prejudice the sovereignty, security, or national interests of New Zealand ; or

(b) the request relates to the prosecution of a person for an offence in a case where the person has been tried by a national court or authority, whether in New Zealand or elsewhere, in respect of that offence or for another offence constituted by the same act or omission except where the Tribunal is exercising jurisdiction because

(i) the act or omission for which the person has been tried was characterised as an ordinary offence under the law of the country where the trial took place ; or

(ii) the proceedings in the national court or authority were—
(A) not impartial or independent ; or
(B) designed to shield the person from inter-national criminal responsibility ; or
(C) not diligently prosecuted.

(c) the request is for assistance of a kind that would require steps to be taken for its implementation that could not be lawfully taken ; or
(d) there are some other exceptional circumstances that justify non-compliance with the request.

Part 7
Miscellaneous

59 Notification of response to Tribunal request

(1) Where a request for assistance under this Act is received from a Tribunal, the Attorney-General shall ensure that the Tribunal is provided with a response to that request.

(2) If the Attorney-General declines, in accordance with this Act, to comply with a request, the Attorney-General shall give reasons to the Tribunal for the Attorney-General's decision.

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.