Provisional arrest for ICC proceedings - national procedures

Germany

Germany - Cooperation with ICC 2002 EN

Part 2 Surrender of Persons

§ 6 Approval of Surrender

The surrender, except in the case of § 32, shall only be approved when the court has declared it permissible.


§ 7 Subject Matter Jurisdiction

(1) The Higher Regional Court shall pass judgment in the absence of other agreement. Judgments of the Higher Regional Court are non-appealable.
(2) The public prosecution office attached to the Higher Regional Court shall prepare the decision regarding the surrender and shall implement approved surrenders.


§ 8 Venue

(1) Venue lies with the Higher Regional Court and the public prosecution office attached to the Higher Regional Court in whose district the suspect is apprehended for the purpose of surrender or, when there has been no apprehension, where the first investigation took place.
(2) If multiple suspects, because of participation in the same criminal act or in connection therewith, are captured or investigated in the districts of different Higher Regional Courts for the purpose of surrender, venue is determined by which Higher Regional Court was first involved is or, when none was yet involved, by which public prosecution office attached to the Higher Regional Court was first involved.
(3) When the whereabouts of the suspect is unknown, venue is determined by the seat of the federal government.


§ 9 Investigation Measures
(relating to Article 59 para. 1 of the Rome Statute)

(1) After receipt of a request by the Court for arrest and surrender based upon Article 89 para. 1 of the Rome Statute or provisional arrest based upon Article 92 para. 1 of the Rome Statute, measures necessary for determination of the whereabouts of the suspect as well as for arrest of the suspect shall be taken. The provisions in para. 9a of Part One of the Criminal Procedure Code (Strafprozessordnung) apply mutatis mutandis.
(2) No special request by the Court is required for ordering individual investigation measures. The public prosecution office attached to the Higher Regional Court is responsible [for] issuing an arrest notice.

§ 10
Detention of Persons to be Surrendered
(relating to Article 59 para. 1 of the Rome Statute)

Upon receipt of the request for arrest and surrender along with the documents required for surrender for criminal prosecution pursuant to Article 91 para. 2 of the Rome Statute or for surrender for execution of sentence pursuant to Article 91 para. 3 of the Rome Statute, detention of the suspect prior to surrender shall be ordered.

Part 2 Surrender of Persons

§ 28 German Criminal Proceeding and Request for Surrender

(2) If provisional detention for surrender of the suspect is ordered pursuant to § 11 para. 2 and the Court has not requested provisional arrest within the deadline foreseen in § 11 para. 3, the proceedings will be resumed. The proceedings will also be resumed when provisional detention for surrender of the suspect has been ordered based upon a request for provisional arrest pursuant to § 11 para. 1 sentence 1 and the Court has not requested arrest and surrender within the deadline set forth in § 11 para. 1 sentence 2. If the court has temporarily discontinued the proceedings, a court decision is required for resumption. Nothing shall hinder a discontinuance in accordance with para. 1 of a proceeding that had previously been resumed.

Part 2
Surrender of Persons

§ 13
Provisional Arrest

(1) When the prerequisites for an arrest warrant for surrender have been fulfilled,
the public prosecution office and the officers of the police force are authorized to
effect the provisional arrest. In accordance with the conditions set forth in § 127
para. 1 sentence 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, any person is entitled to conduct
a provisional arrest.
(2) If the suspect is taken into custody, he shall be informed of the reason
therefore.
(3) When an arrest warrant for surrender exists, the suspect must be promptly
informed thereof. The suspect is to be given a copy.

Part 2
Surrender of Persons

§ 15
Procedure After Provisional Arrest

(1) If the suspect is provisionally arrested, he shall be brought without delay, at
the latest on the day after arrest, before a judge of the next District Court
(Amtsgericht).
(2) § 14 para. 2 applies mutatis mutandis to the examination of the suspect.
(3) If the examination reveals that the captured person is not the person to which
the request or the criminal acts within the meaning of § 11 para. 2 relate, the judge of
the District Court shall order his release. Otherwise the judge of the District Court
shall order that the suspect shall remain in detention until there is a decision by the
Higher Regional Court. The public prosecution office attached to the Higher Regional
Court shall promptly obtain a decision of the Higher Regional Court; participation of
the Court shall be in accordance with Article 59 para. 4-6 of the Rome Statute. § 14 para. 5-7 apply mutatis mutandis.

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.