Part 2 Requests by Barbados to Commonwealth Countries for Assistance

Article 10 Assistance by transferring prisoner

(1) Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person who is a prisoner in a Commonwealth country could give or provide evidence or assistance relevant to a criminal matter, a request may be transmitted requesting the country to transfer the prisoner to Barbados to give or provide that evidence or assistance.

(2) Where, pursuant to a request under subsection (1), a prisoner is transferred to Barbados from a Commonwealth country subject to conditions with respect to his custody, release or return, or with respect to any other matter, the central authority for Barbados shall, unless and to the extent that the Commonwealth country waives their observance, take the necessary steps to ensure that the conditions are observed.

(3) Where any condition such as is referred to in subsection (2) requires that a prisoner be kept in custody while in Barbados, the prisoner shall, while in Barbados or travelling to or from Barbados pursuant to the request, be kept in such custody as may be prescribed.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring rights on a prisoner.

(5) In this section “prisoner” in relation to a Commonwealth country, means

(a) a person who

(i) is being held in custody pending trial for or sentence for, or

(ii) is under sentence of imprisonment for an offence against the law of that country; or

(b) is subject to any limitation on his personal liberty pursuant to that law

Part 3 Requests by Commonwealth countries to Barbados for Assistance

Article 23 Assistance to country transferring prisoner

(1) This section applies where a request is transmitted requesting Barbados to transfer a prisoner in Barbados to the Commonwealth country making the request to give or provide evidence or assistance relevant to a criminal matter in relation to that Commonwealth country, and the request is accepted.

(2) Where this section applies, the central authority after consultation with the Minister responsible for Justice shall cause a prisoner to be transferred to the Commonwealth country making the request for the purpose of giving effect to the request.

(3) The central authority for Barbados may state, and inform the central authority for the Commonwealth country making the request as to, conditions subject to which a prisoner is to be transferred including conditions with respect to the custody, release or return of the prisoner.

(4) A period during which a prisoner is in custody in a Commonwealth country, pursuant to a request, shall be deemed for all purposes, to be time served in custody in Barbados.

(5) In this section, “prisoner” means a person who is being held in custody pending trial for, or sentence for, or is under imprisonment for, an offence, or is subject to any limitation on his personal liberty pursuant to any law.

Part 5 Miscellaneous

Article 32 Transit

(1) Where a person is to be transported in custody from a Commonwealth country through Barbados 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 Barbados 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 place in Barbados, shall be kept in such custody as the Minister 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 Minister responsible for Justice, continued within a reasonable time, that Minister may direct that the person be transported in custody to the Commonwealth country from which the person was first transported.

Schedule 1

Request for Assistance made by Commonwealth Countries

Article 2

(5) Where a request such as is referred to in section 23 is made by a Commonwealth country, the request shall identify the subject on which evidence or information is to be provided and state the reasons for requiring the personal appearance of the prisoner.