Competing request

Ireland

Ireland - ICC Act 2006 EN

Part 1
Requests by International Criminal Court

Section 4

(7) Competing requests for assistance from the Court and from another state pursuant to an international obligation of the State, other than requests for surrender or extradition, shall be dealt with by the Minister in accordance with Article 93.9.

Part 3
Requests by International Criminal Court for Arrest and Surrender of Persons

Section 18.—

(1) In this section “surrender proceedings” means proceedings before the High Court for the surrender of a person to another state following receipt of—

(a) a request under the Extradition Acts for his or her extradition to another state, or
(b) a European arrest warrant (within the meaning of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003) in respect of the person.

(2) Where the Minister receives a request from the International Criminal Court for the arrest and surrender of a person under Article 89 and—

(a) surrender proceedings in respect of the person have been instituted but have not been determined, or
(b) the person is awaiting surrender to another state under the Extradition Acts or the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003,

then, pending a decision by the Minister in accordance with Article 90 on whether priority should be given to the request—

(i) the Minister shall notify the High Court of the request, and, on receipt of the notification, the Court may adjourn the proceedings for such period or periods as it thinks fit and remand the person in custody or, subject to section 26(2), on bail, or
(ii) as the case may be, the person shall not be so surrendered.

(3) If the Minister decides in accordance with Article 90 that priority should be given to the request from the International Criminal Court and—

(a) the surrender proceedings have been so adjourned, the Minister shall cause the High Court to be notified of his or her decision, and, on receipt of the notification, the Court may order that the proceedings be discontinued and that the person concerned be brought before it to be dealt with in accordance with section 25, or
(b) the person is awaiting surrender to another state, the person shall not be so surrendered, and sections 19, 20, 23 and 25 shall have effect in relation to the case.

(4) If, having consulted the International Criminal Court, the Minister decides in accordance with Article 90 that priority should not be given to the Court’s request—

(a) the Minister shall cause the High Court to be notified accordingly, or
(b) if the person is awaiting surrender to another state, subsection (2) (ii) shall cease to have effect in relation to the person concerned.

(5) A discontinuance of surrender proceedings under subsection (3) (a) in respect of an offence is not a bar to instituting fresh such proceedings for it.

(6) This section has effect notwithstanding anything in the Extradition Acts and is without prejudice to section 30(3) of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.

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.