Request for provisional arrest

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

International Criminal Court Act 2001 (2014)

PART 2 ARREST AND DELIVERY OF PERSONS
Proceedings on request

3 Request for provisional arrest

(1) This section applies where the Secretary of State receives from the ICC a request for the provisional arrest of a person alleged to have committed an ICC crime or to have been convicted by the ICC.
(2) If it appears to the Secretary of State that application for a warrant should be made in England and Wales—
(a) he shall transmit the request to a constable and direct the constable to apply for a warrant for the arrest of that person, and
(b) on an application by a constable stating on oath that he has reason to believe—
(i) that a request has been made on grounds of urgency by the ICC for the arrest of a person, and
(ii) that the person is in, or on his way to, the United Kingdom,
an appropriate judicial officer shall issue a warrant for the arrest of that person.
(3) If it appears to the Secretary of State that application for a warrant should be made in Scotland—
(a) he shall transmit the request to the Scottish Ministers who shall instruct the procurator fiscal to apply for a warrant for the arrest of that person, and
(b) on the application by the procurator fiscal, which shall state—
(i) that a request has been made on grounds of urgency by the ICC for the arrest of a person, and
(ii) that the person is in, or on his way to, Scotland,
an appropriate judicial officer shall issue a warrant for the arrest of that person.
(4) Where an appropriate judicial officer issues a warrant under this section, he shall notify the Secretary of State and, where the proceedings are in Scotland, the Scottish Ministers that he has done so.
(5) In this Part a warrant issued under this section is referred to as a “provisional warrant”.

Rome Statute

Article 92 Provisional arrest

1. In urgent cases, the Court may request the provisional arrest of the person sought, pending presentation of the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91.

2. The request for provisional arrest shall be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record and shall contain:

(a) Information describing the person sought, sufficient to identify the person, and information as to that person's probable location;

(b) A concise statement of the crimes for which the person's arrest is sought and of the facts which are alleged to constitute those crimes, including, where possible, the date and location of the crime;

(c) A statement of the existence of a warrant of arrest or a judgement of conviction against the person sought; and

(d) A statement that a request for surrender of the person sought will follow.

3. A person who is provisionally arrested may be released from custody if the requested State has not received the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91 within the time limits specified in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. However, the person may consent to surrender before the expiration of this period if permitted by the law of the requested State. In such a case, the requested State shall proceed to surrender the person to the Court as soon as possible.

4. The fact that the person sought has been released from custody pursuant to paragraph 3 shall not prejudice the subsequent arrest and surrender of that person if the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request are delivered at a later date.