Refusal of ICC request

Czech Republic

Czech republic - Act on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters 2013 EN

PART ONE OPENING PROVISIONS

Section 5 Protection of Interests of the Czech Republic
(1) International judicial cooperation cannot be provided to a foreign authority, if it would be contrary to the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, or to such provisions of the legal order of the Czech Republic, which must be abided without any exceptions.
(2) International judicial cooperation need not be provided, if it could result in harm to another significant protected interest of the Czech Republic; this does not apply for procedures according to Part five, unless substantial security interests or other similarly important fundamental protected interests of the Czech Republic are concerned.

PART THREE Individual forms of International Judicial Cooperation
Chapter I Legal Assistance
Sub-chapter 2 Providing Legal Assistance to Foreign Authorities

Section 53 Suspension of Execution of Actions of Legal Assistance
(1) The judicial authority competent to execute a request of a foreign authority for legal assistance may suspend execution of the requested action of legal, if its execution could imperil criminal proceedings conducted in the Czech Republic or if its execution is temporarily not possible with regard to specific circumstances of the case.
(2) The suspension of the action of legal assistance must be immediately notified to the foreign state. At the same time it must be informed of the reasons for the suspension and if possible, also about the supposed time it will be possible to execute the action of legal assistance.

Section 54 Refusal of Providing Legal Assistance
(1) Unless this Act provides otherwise, the judicial authority competent for execution of a request of a foreign authority for legal assistance will refuse execution of the requested action of legal assistance, if
a) the request of the foreign authority does not provide sufficient grounds for executing the requested action of legal assistance and the foreign state fails to supplement it within reasonable time despite being requisitioned to do so,
b) the requested action of legal assistance cannot be executed under the Czech law, or 34
c) execution of the requested action of legal assistance in prevented by another serious reason.
(2) Before refusing execution of the requested action of legal assistance the judicial authority will request an opinion of the central authority; this does not apply, if an international treaty enables direct contact between judicial authorities in the course of realization of legal assistance.
(3) Refusing execution of legal assistance must be immediately notified to the foreign state with stating reasons for the refusal.

PART THREE Individual forms of International Judicial Cooperation
Chapter II Extradition of Persons
Sub-chapter 2 Extradition to Foreign States

Section 89 Refusing Extradition Requests
(1) In case the Ministry receives an extradition request before the initiation of preliminary investigation, it will refuse this request if
a) the person concerned by the extradition died,
b) the person concerned by the extradition was not criminally liable under the Czech Law
with regard to his age,
c) the person concerned by the extradition may not be apprehended because of a privilege or immunity, which make him exempt from jurisdiction of authorities involved in criminal proceedings,
d) the place of stay of the person concerned by the extradition in the territory of Czech Republic is unknown,
e) the foreign state failed to supplement the request according to Section 88 (3), or
f) the extradition request was served after full force and effect of the decision that the person concerned by the extradition will be surrendered to another state according to Part five, Chapter II, or after authorization of extradition to another state, or after
authorization of surrendering to an international court authority.
(2) If the Ministry has doubts about whether or to what extent is the person concerned by the extradition exempted from jurisdiction of authorities involved in criminal proceedings, the Supreme Court will decide the matter upon its petition.

PART FOUR Cooperation with International Criminal Courts and Tribunals
Chapter I General Provisions

Section 152 Not Granting and Suspension of Execution of Request or Order
(1) The judicial authority will consult the international court, before not granting or partially granting its request or order, about the conditions, under which it would be possible to grant the request or order, including eventual correction or supplementation thereof
(2) The judicial authority may postpone execution of a request or order of an international court only after a previous consultation with the international court and only for a fixed time period; its duration will the judicial authority notify to the international court along with a notification of suspension of execution of the request or order. If a request or order of an international court referred to in Section 145 (1) (a) is concerned, it may do so only after a consultation with this international court.

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.