CHAPTER 11:24

MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT

PART VI
MISCELLANEOUS

36. Transit.

(1) Where a person is to be transported in custody from a Commonwealth country through Trinidad and Tobago to another Commonwealth country pursuant to a request for assistance, of the kind referred to in the Scheme, by the other Commonwealth country, the person—

(a) may be transported through Trinidad and Tobago in the custody of another person; and
(b) if an aircraft or ship by which the person is being transported lands or calls at a port in Trinidad and Tobago, shall be kept in such custody as the Attorney General directs in writing until the person’s transportation is continued.

(2) Where a person is being held in custody pursuant to a direction under subsection (1)(b) and the person’s transportation is not, in the opinion of the Attorney General, continued within a reasonable time, the Attorney General may direct that the person be transported in custody to the Commonwealth country from which the person was first transported.

PART VII
PERSONS IN TRANSIT TO ICC OR SERVING SENTENCES IMPOSED BY ICC

Person in Transit

136. (1) This section and sections 137, 138 and 150 to 156 apply to a person (hereinafter referred to as “the transferee”) who—
(a) is being surrendered to the ICC by another State under Article 89 of the Statute;
(b) is a person to whom article 93(7) of the Statute applies, and is being temporarily transferred to the ICC by another State; or
(c) is a person sentenced to imprisonment by the ICC and who is being transferred to or from the ICC, or between States, in connection with that sentence.

(2) The transferee may be transported through Trinidad and Tobago for the purpose of being surrendered or transferred to the ICC or to another State, as the case may be.
(3) Before the transferee is transported through Trinidad and Tobago under subsection (2), the ICC must first transmit a request in accordance with article 87 of the Statute that contains the following information and documents:
(a) a description of the transferee;
(b) in the case of a person described in subsection (1)(a) —
(i) a brief statement of the facts of the case and their legal characterization; and
(ii) a copy of the warrant for arrest and surrender; and
(c) in a case of a person described in subsection (1)(b), such information as the Attorney General may request about the reasons for the temporary transfer.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), the Attorney General shall not refuse a request for transit unless he considers that transit through Trinidad and Tobago would impede or delay the surrender or transfer of the transferee.
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (3), no authori¬zation for transit is required if the transferee is transported by air and no landing is scheduled on Trinidad and Tobago territory.
(6) If an unscheduled landing occurs on Trinidad and Tobago territory, the Attorney General may require the ICC to submit a request for transit of the transferee under subsection (3) as soon as is reasonably practicable.

137. (1) The transferee shall, during the period of transit, be detained in custody in accordance with subsection (2).
(2) If the aircraft or ship that transports a transferee lands or calls at any place in Trinidad and Tobago—
(a) the person holding the transferee in custody before the landing or call is made may hold the transferee in his or her custody or in police custody for a period not exceeding ninety-six hours; and
(b) a High Court may, on the application of a police officer, order that the transferee be held in custody for such further period as the Court considers reasonably necessary to facilitate the transportation of the transferee to the ICC or to another State, as the case may be.
(3) If an unscheduled landing occurs and the ICC is required under section 136(6) to submit a request for transit, the transferee must be held in custody under subsection (2).
(4) If subsection (3) applies, the period of detention of the transferee may not be extended beyond ninety-six hours from the time of the unscheduled landing, unless the request for transit from the ICC is received within that time.
(5) If a High Court orders, under subsection (2)(b), that a transferee be held in custody, the transferee may be detained in a prison or any other place in which a person could be detained under section 42.
138. (1) If a transferee is not removed before or at the expiry of all periods of custody under section 137(2), the Attorney General shall either—
(a) make a removal order under section 153; or

(b) issue a certificate under section 150 giving the transferee temporary authority to remain in Trinidad and Tobago.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), no removal order may be made under section 153 unless—
(a) the Attorney General first consults with the ICC; and
(b) it is not possible for the Attorney General and the ICC to reach agreement relating to the prompt removal of the transferee.
(3) The Attorney General may not issue the certificate referred to in subsection (1)(b) unless he is satisfied that, because of the special circumstances of the transferee, it would be inappropriate to make a removal order.