TITLE II
CHAPTER I
INTERNATIONAL LETTERS ROGATORY FROM ABROAD
Art. 4
(Form and content of requests)
1. Requests for assistance shall indicate as follows:
a) the authority making the request and, if different, the authority competent in respect of criminal proceedings;
b) the object of and the reason for the request;
c) the offence which the requesting State prosecutes;
d) a brief summary of the facts, unless the object of the request consists of a request for service;
e) where possible, the identity and the nationality of the person concerned, and
f) where necessary, the name and address of the person to be served.
2. The request for judicial assistance and annexed documents shall be transmitted accompanied by their translation into Italian.
3. Evidence and documents transmitted pursuant to this Law shall not require any form of authentication.
Art. 5
(Irregular requests)
1. If the request does not comply with the provisions of the preceding article, or the information contained therein is not sufficient to allow the Republic of San Marino to deal with said request, the Law Commissioner shall request the judicial authorities of the requesting State to modify the request or to complete it with additional information, subject to the special procedure referred to in Article 9 of this Law.
2. If the judicial authorities of the requesting State do not modify the request within the time limit of one year of receipt of the request for additional information, the irregular request shall be filed.
Art. 6
(Transmission of requests)
1. Without prejudice to the different transmission procedures provided for by the bilateral conventions in force for the Republic of San Marino, the request and annexed documents shall be addressed directly by the judicial authorities of the requesting State to the Single Court of the Republic of San Marino and at the same time a copy thereof shall be sent to the Secretary of State for Justice.
Art. 7
(Judge responsible for letters rogatory received from abroad)
1. The judge responsible for letters rogatory shall be the Law Commissioner.
Art. 8
(Judicial work)
1. With the exception of the case of suspension of the request, the Law Commissioner shall rapidly execute the letter rogatory and, in any case, within and not later than 60 days of receipt, by adopting the relevant order of exequatur.
2. In the event of irregular letters rogatory, the time-limit of 60 days envisaged by the preceding paragraph shall run from receipt of the amendments and/or information requested to complete the request.
3. Execution of the request shall be refused:
1) if the acts requested are contrary to the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Citizens’ Rights and Fundamental Principles of San Marino constitutional order;
2) if the acts requested are expressly prohibited by law;
3) if the acts requested prejudice the sovereignty, security or other essential interests of the Republic of San Marino;
4) if the request concerns an offence considered a political offence or an offence connected with a political offence in the Republic of San Marino;
5) if the request concerns the same fact and the same person against whom the San Marino judicial authorities have issued a final judgement.
6) if the letter rogatory concerning search or seizure of property is submitted on the basis of offences that are not punishable under both the law of the requesting State and the law of the Republic of San Marino, or if the request is not consistent with the law of San Marino;
7) if the letter rogatory concerns the summons of a witness, expert or defendant before the foreign judicial authorities and the requesting State does not provide any appropriate guarantee in regard to the immunity of the summoned person.
Art. 9
(Reciprocity)
1. When the request is submitted by a State with which no international conventions exist on these matters, the Law Commissioner shall forward to the Secretary of State for Justice, within 30 days of receipt of the request, a technical report stating whether the request submitted complies with the legal requirements.
2. Further to the decision taken by the Congress of State, the Secretary of State for Justice may refuse to execute the letter rogatory if the requesting State does not provide any adequate guarantee of reciprocity. Further to the decision taken in this regard by the Congress of State, the Secretary of State for Justice shall demand a guarantee of reciprocity from the requesting State, if so required by the circumstances.
3. In the event of an irregular request, the request for additional information shall be submitted subsequent to the Congress’s decision whether to grant the cooperation requested.
4. The decision of the Congress of State on the basis of which the execution of a request is accepted or denied to a State with which no international conventions exist on these matters, and the relevant communication of the Secretary of State for Justice cannot be challenged.
5. If the Secretary of State for Justice informs the Law Commissioner that the Republic of San Marino intends to execute a letter rogatory for a State with which no international conventions exist
relating to these matters, the time limit of 60 days referred to in Article 8 of this Law to issue the order of exequatur shall run from receipt of the communication by the Secretary of State.
Art. 10
(Suspension)
1. The execution of the letter rogatory shall be suspended by the Law Commissioner by reasoned order, if it is likely to be detrimental to investigations in criminal proceedings pending in the Republic of San Marino.
Art. 11
(Partial acceptance of the request)
1. Before rejecting or returning a letter rogatory, the Law Commissioner shall assess, after having consulted with the judicial authorities of the requesting State, where necessary, whether the request may be partially accepted.
Art. 12
(Principle of speciality)
1. The Law Commissioner shall grant judicial assistance, by ordering that the results of investigations, information, evidence and documents transmitted are not used or transmitted to third parties by the requesting State for purposes other than those specified in the request without prior consent.
Art. 13
(Lex loci)
1. The Republic of San Marino shall execute letters rogatory in the manners provided for by its legislation.
2. The acquisition of copies of documents constitutes seizure.
3. Until the order of exequatur is issued, unless the requesting State requests otherwise, the provisions of Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law no. 93 of 17 June 2008 shall apply, without prejudice to Article 30, last paragraph of this Law.
Art. 14
(Derogations from the principle of lex loci)
1. If the requesting State expressly requests that witnesses or experts give evidence on oath, the Law Commissioner shall comply with the request only if the law of San Marino does not prohibit it.
2. If the requesting State expressly so requests and the San Marino law envisages it, any other evidence may be acquired in the manners requested.
Art. 15
(Form of documents requested)
1. The Law Commissioner shall transmit only certified copies or certified photocopies of records or documents requested.
2. If the requesting State expressly requests the transmission of originals, the request shall be executed only if it is possible. Furthermore, the requesting State shall be required to return them as soon as possible, unless the Republic of San Marino gives them up.
3. The Law Commissioner may delay the handing over of any original records or documents requested, if it requires said records or documents in connection with pending criminal proceedings.
Art. 16
(Information to the requesting State)
1. On the express request of the requesting State, the Law Commissioner shall inform it of the date and place of execution of the letter rogatory.
Art. 17
(Confidentiality)
1. Outside what is necessary to execute the request, the requesting State may demand that the Republic of San Marino keeps the facts to which the request refers confidential.
2. If the execution of the request entails under San Marino law to adopt procedural guarantees that are not consistent with the confidentiality requested, the Law Commissioner shall immediately inform the requesting State thereof.
3. If a criminal file is opened in the Republic of San Marino further to the confidential transmission, the provisions of Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law no. 93 of 17 June 2008 shall be applied for the sole purposes of international cooperation and for the period of 3 months.
4. If an autonomous criminal file is opened in the Republic of San Marino following the confidential transmission and the competent judge considers that the provisional secrecy regime shall be applied, the provisions and time limits envisaged by Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law no. 93 of 17 June 2008 (periods during which any period granted under the previous paragraph is not computed) shall be implemented.
Art. 18
(Expenses)
1. Ordinary expenses for the execution of the request shall be burdened by the Republic of San Marino.
2. The refunding of the expenses incurred by the attendance of experts and witnesses in the territory of the requested State and the transfer of a person in custody shall be an exception to the general free-of-charge principle.
Art. 19
(Service of writs and records of judicial decisions)
1. The Republic of San Marino shall effect service of writs and records of judicial decisions which are transmitted for this purpose by the requesting State.
2. If the requesting State expressly so requests, the Law Commissioner shall order that service is effected in one of the manners provided for the service of analogous documents under the domestic law, or in a special manner envisaged by San Marino law.
3. Proof of service shall be given by means of a receipt dated and signed by the person served or by means of a declaration made by the Republic of San Marino that service has been effected and stating the form and date of such service.
4. One or other of these documents shall be sent to the requesting State. If the requesting State so requests, the Republic of San Marino shall state whether service has been effected in accordance with its own law. If service cannot be effected, the reasons shall be communicated immediately by the Law Commissioner to the requesting State.
Art. 20
(Appearance of witnesses and experts)
1. Without prejudice to contrary provisions contained in the bilateral agreements in force for the Republic of San Marino, a witness or expert who has failed to answer a summons to appear, service of which has been requested, shall not be subjected to any punishment or measure of restraint, unless subsequently he voluntarily enters the territory of the requesting State and is there again duly summoned.
Art. 21
(Refunding of expenses for witnesses or experts)
1. With the exception of different criteria contained in the bilateral conventions in force for the Republic of San Marino, the allowances to be paid and the travelling and subsistence expenses to be refunded to a witness or expert by the requesting State shall be calculated as from his place of residence and shall be at rates at least equal to those provided for in the scales and rules in force in the country where the hearing is intended to take place.
Art. 22
(Immunity of witnesses or experts)
1. No witnesses or experts, whatever their nationality, appearing before the judicial authorities of the requesting State in response to a summons, shall be prosecuted or detained or subjected to any other restriction of their personal liberty in the territory of the requesting State for acts or convictions anterior to their departure from the territory of the Republic of San Marino.
2. The immunity provided for in this Article shall cease when the witness or expert, having had the opportunity to leave the territory of the requesting State during a period of fifteen days from the date on which his presence is no longer required by the judicial authorities, has nevertheless remained in the territory, or having left it, has voluntarily returned.
Art. 23
(Service of a summons on a prosecuted person)
1. A summons to appear relating to a prosecuted person who is in the territory of the Republic of San Marino shall be transmitted to the competent authority of the Republic of San Marino at least 40 days before the date set for appearance.
Art. 24
(Immunity of the prosecuted person)
1. A person, whatever his nationality, summoned before the judicial authorities of the requesting State to answer for acts forming the subject of proceedings against him, shall not be prosecuted, detained or subjected to any other restriction of his personal liberty for acts or convictions anterior to his departure from the territory of the Republic of San Marino and not specified in the summons.
2. The immunity provided for in this article shall cease when the prosecuted person, having had the opportunity to leave the territory of the requesting State during a period of fifteen days from the date on which his presence is no longer required by the judicial authorities, has nevertheless remained in the territory, or having left it, has returned.
Art. 25
(Appearance of a detained person)
1. Any detained person whose personal appearance as a witness or for purposes of confrontation is applied for by the requesting State shall be temporarily transferred to the territory of the State where the hearing is intended to take place, provided that he shall be sent back as soon as possible and subject to the provisions relating to the immunity envisaged by Articles 22 and 24 of this Law in so far as these are applicable.
2. Transfer shall be postponed if the presence of the detained person is necessary in criminal proceedings pending in the territory of the Republic of San Marino.
3. In the case provided for in the preceding paragraph and in accordance with the requirements envisaged for the execution of letters rogatory, transit of the detained person through the territory of a third State shall be granted on application, accompanied by all necessary documents and addressed by the Ministry of Justice of the requesting State to the Ministry of Justice of the State through whose territory transit is requested.
4. The transferred person shall remain in custody in the territory of the requesting State and, where applicable, in the territory of the State through which transit is requested.
5. The period of detention served by the detained person who is transferred abroad to take part in the hearing requested shall be computed as a period served for the purposes of the domestic conviction.
Art. 26
(Handing over and return of property)
1. The Law Commissioner may delay the handing over of any property requested, if said property is necessary in connection with criminal proceedings pending in the Republic of San Marino.
2. Any property handed over in execution of letters rogatory shall be returned by the requesting State to the Republic of San Marino as soon as possible, unless the latter waives the return thereof.
Art. 27
(Exchange of sentences of conviction)
1. Further to specific requests submitted by competent foreign judicial authorities, the Republic of San Marino shall provide information regarding criminal sentences entered in the judicial records.
Art. 28
(Return of the request)
1. Subject to the different modalities of direct transmission envisaged in the provisions of the bilateral conventions in force for the Republic of San Marino, letters rogatory shall be returned through the Secretariat of State for Justice, which sends them back to the Ministry of Justice of the requesting State.
1. Los Estados Partes, de conformidad con lo dispuesto en la presente Parte y con los procedimientos de su derecho interno, deberán cumplir las solicitudes de asistencia formuladas por la Corte en relación con investigaciones o enjuiciamientos penales a fin de:
(a) Identificar y buscar personas u objetos;
(b) Practicar pruebas, incluidos los testimonios bajo juramento, y producir pruebas, incluidos los dictámenes e informes periciales que requiera la Corte;
(c) Interrogar a una persona objeto de investigación o enjuiciamiento;
(d) Notificar documentos, inclusive los documentos judiciales;
(e) Facilitar la comparecencia voluntaria ante la Corte de testigos o expertos;
(f) Proceder al traslado provisional de personas, de conformidad con lo dispuesto en el párrafo 7;
(g) Realizar inspecciones oculares, inclusive la exhumación y el examen de cadáveres y fosas comunes;
(h) Practicar allanamientos y decomisos;
(i) Transmitir registros y documentos, inclusive registros y documentos oficiales;
(j) Proteger a víctimas y testigos y preservar pruebas;
(k) Identificar, determinar el paradero o inmovilizar el producto y los bienes y haberes obtenidos del crimen y de los instrumentos del crimen, o incautarse de ellos, con miras a su decomiso ulterior y sin perjuicio de los derechos de terceros de buena fe; y
(l) Cualquier otro tipo de asistencia no prohibida por la legislación del Estado requerido y destinada a facilitar la investigación y el enjuiciamiento de crímenes de la competencia de la Corte.
2. La Corte podrá dar seguridades a los testigos o expertos que comparezcan ante ella de que no serán enjuiciados o detenidos ni se restringirá su libertad personal por un acto u omisión anterior a su salida del Estado requerido.
3. Cuando la ejecución de una determinada medida de asistencia detallada en una solicitud presentada de conformidad con el párrafo 1 estuviera prohibida en el Estado requerido por un principio fundamental de derecho ya existente y de aplicación general, el Estado requerido celebrará sin demora consultas con la Corte para tratar de resolver la cuestión. En las consultas se debería considerar si se puede prestar la asistencia de otra manera o con sujeción a condiciones. Si, después de celebrar consultas, no se pudiera resolver la cuestión, la Corte modificará la solicitud según sea necesario.
4. El Estado Parte podrá no dar lugar a una solicitud de asistencia, en su totalidad o en parte, de conformidad con el artículo 72 y únicamente si la solicitud se refiere a la presentación de documentos o la divulgación de pruebas que afecten a su seguridad nacional.
5. Antes de denegar una solicitud de asistencia de conformidad con el párrafo 1 l), el Estado requerido considerará si se puede prestar la asistencia con sujeción a ciertas condiciones, o si es posible hacerlo en una fecha posterior o de otra manera. La Corte o el Fiscal, si aceptan la asistencia sujeta a condiciones, tendrán que cumplirlas.
6. Si no se da lugar a una solicitud de asistencia, el Estado Parte requerido deberá comunicar sin demora los motivos a la Corte o al Fiscal.
(a) La Corte podrá solicitar el traslado provisional de un detenido a los fines de su identificación o de que preste testimonio o asistencia de otra índole. El traslado podrá realizarse siempre que:
(i) El detenido dé, libremente y con conocimiento de causa, su consentimiento; y
(ii) El Estado requerido lo acepte, con sujeción a las condiciones que hubiere acordado con la Corte.
(b) La persona trasladada permanecerá detenida. Una vez cumplidos los fines del traslado, la Corte la devolverá sin dilación al Estado requerido.
(a) La Corte velará por la protección del carácter confidencial de los documentos y de la información, salvo en la medida en que éstos sean necesarios para la investigación y las diligencias pedidas en la solicitud.
(b) El Estado requerido podrá, cuando sea necesario, transmitir al Fiscal documentos o información con carácter confidencial. El Fiscal únicamente podrá utilizarlos para reunir nuevas pruebas.
(c) El Estado requerido podrá, de oficio o a solicitud del Fiscal, autorizar la divulgación ulterior de estos documentos o información, los cuales podrán utilizarse como medios de prueba de conformidad con lo dispuesto en las partes V y VI y de conformidad con las Reglas de Procedimiento y Prueba.
(i) El Estado Parte que reciba solicitudes concurrentes de la Corte y de otro Estado de conformidad con una obligación internacional y que no se refieran a la entrega o la extradición, procurará, en consulta con la Corte y el otro Estado, atender ambas solicitudes, de ser necesario postergando o condicionando una de ellas.
(ii) Si esto no fuera posible, la cuestión de las solicitudes concurrentes se resolverá de conformidad con los principios enunciados en el artículo 90.
(b) Sin embargo, cuando la solicitud de la Corte se refiera a información, bienes o personas que estén sometidos al control de un tercer Estado o de una organización internacional en virtud de un acuerdo internacional, el Estado requerido lo comunicará a la Corte y la Corte dirigirá su solicitud al tercer Estado o a la organización internacional.
10. (a) A solicitud de un Estado Parte que lleve a cabo una investigación o sustancie un juicio por una conducta que constituya un crimen de la competencia de la Corte o que constituya un crimen grave con arreglo al derecho interno del Estado requirente, la Corte podrá cooperar con él y prestarle asistencia;
(b)
(i) La asistencia prestada de conformidad con el apartado a) podrá comprender, entre otras cosas:
a. La transmisión de declaraciones, documentos u otros elementos de prueba obtenidos en el curso de una investigación o de un proceso sustanciado por la Corte; y
b. El interrogatorio de una persona detenida por orden de la Corte;
(ii) En el caso de la asistencia prevista en el apartado (b) (i) a.:
a. Si los documentos u otros elementos de prueba se hubieren obtenido con la asistencia de un Estado, su transmisión estará subordinada al consentimiento de dicho Estado;
b. Si las declaraciones, los documentos u otros elementos de prueba hubieren sido proporcionados por un testigo o un perito, su transmisión estará subordinada a lo dispuesto en el artículo 68.
(c) La Corte podrá, de conformidad con el presente párrafo y en las condiciones enunciadas en él, acceder a una solicitud de asistencia presentada por un Estado que no sea parte en el presente Estatuto.
1. La solicitud relativa a otras formas de asistencia a que se hace referencia en el artículo 93 deberá hacerse por escrito. En caso de urgencia, se podrá hacer por cualquier otro medio que permita dejar constancia escrita, a condición de que la solicitud sea confirmada en la forma indicada en el párrafo 1 (a) del artículo 87.
2. La solicitud deberá contener los siguientes elementos o estar acompañada de, según proceda:
(a) Una exposición concisa de su propósito y de la asistencia solicitada, incluidos los fundamentos jurídicos y los motivos de la solicitud;
(b) La información más detallada posible acerca del paradero o la identificación de la persona o el lugar objeto de la búsqueda o la identificación, de forma que se pueda prestar la asistencia solicitada;
(c) Una exposición concisa de los hechos esenciales que fundamentan la solicitud;
(d) Las razones y la indicación detallada de cualquier procedimiento que deba seguirse o requisito que deba cumplirse;
(e) Cualquier información que pueda ser necesaria conforme al derecho interno del Estado requerido para cumplir la solicitud; y
(f) Cualquier otra información pertinente para que pueda prestarse la asistencia solicitada.
3. A solicitud de la Corte, todo Estado Parte consultará con la Corte, en general o respecto de un asunto concreto, sobre las disposiciones de su derecho interno que puedan ser aplicables de conformidad con el párrafo 2 (e). En esas consultas, los Estados Partes comunicarán a la Corte las disposiciones específicas de su derecho interno.
4. Las disposiciones del presente artículo serán también aplicables, según proceda, con respecto a las solicitudes de asistencia hechas a la Corte.