'Surrender - procedures' in document 'Croatia: Implementation of Statute of ICC'

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RELEVANT SECTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION

VI. ARREST AND SURRENDER OF ACCUSED

REQUEST FOR SURRENDER OF ACCUSED
Article 29

(1) Arrest and surrender of accused shall be performed based on a request for the surrender of accused of the International Criminal Court and shall be conducted according to the provisions of the Statute and this Law.
(2) The substantiated request for the surrender of the accused along with the enclosed information required to identify the accused shall be submitted by the International Criminal Court to the Government which shall send it to the competent State Attorney, and when necessary, to the police.
(3) In the surrender procedure the appropriate provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act shall be applied.

PARTIES AND MANDATORY DEFENSE
Article 30

(1) In the surrender procedure the parties shall be - the accused - person whose surrender is requested by the International Criminal Court and the State Attorney representing the request for the surrender.
(2) In the course of the surrender procedure, the accused must have a defense counsel appointed.

ARREST
Article 31

(1) The Government shall submit to the police, with no delay, the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court.
(2) The police shall, acting under the request of the International Criminal Court arrest the accused - person whose arrest and surrender or temporary arrest or surrender has been requested by the International Criminal Court and shall with no delay bring the person before the investigating judge of the competent court for the execution of the surrender procedure. If the accused is on the run, the police shall conduct the necessary measures within their competence to find and arrest the person accused.
(3) If the accused is on the run, upon the proposal of the State Attorney, the investigating judge may, in addition to other measures necessary to find and arrest the accused, against the accused or the person referred to in Article 180 paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act order the measures referred to in Article 180 paragraph 1 items 1 - 4 of the same Act.

PROCEDURE BEFORE THE INVESTIGATION JUDGE
Article 32

(1) The competent investigation judge shall interrogate the accused about the matter, and if the judge establishes that this is the person whose arrest, temporary arrest or surrender was requested by the International Criminal Court, the judge shall order that this person be held in custody.
(2) The custody ordered by the investigation judge may have the maximum duration as the custody in the course of investigation in accordance with the Article 16 of this Law.
(3) The investigation judge shall, at the time of interrogation establish whether the accused wants to surrender to the International Criminal Court and without the surrender procedure. In such a case a special document shall be drawn up in which the accused shall confirm that he/she wants to surrender to the International Criminal Court without the conducting of surrender procedure and that he/she waives all remedies which can be used in this procedure. In such a case the investigation judge shall decide on the need of custody in accordance with the provision of the Criminal Procedure Act.
(4) Exceptionally, the accused may make a statement before the arrest took place before the competent state attorney, and a document referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be drawn up, stating that the accused wants to voluntarily surrender to the International Criminal Court without the conducting of the surrender procedure. In such a case the State attorney may request the investigative judge to order the accused to be put in custody in accordance with the provisions of Criminal Procedure Act.
(5) The statement referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article may not be revoked.

PROCEDURE BEFORE THE TRIAL CHAMBER
Article 33

(1) The county courts in Osijek, Rijeka, Split and Zagreb shall be authorized to decide on the surrender of the accused to the International Criminal Court.
(2) The chamber mentioned in the Article 13 paragraph 2 of this Law shall decide on the surrender.

INTERROGATION OF THE ACCUSED
Article 34

In the procedure conducted to decide on the request of the International Criminal Court for the surrender of the accused, the court shall inform the accused about the request and the charges against him/her and shall interrogate him/her about the criminal offences he/she is being charged with and about other circumstances which are important for deciding on the request of the International Criminal Court.

VOLUNTARY SURRENDER
Article 35

(1) In the course of the procedure the accused may give the statement on the record that he/she wants to voluntarily surrender to the International Criminal Court and that he/she waives all the legal remedies in the surrender procedure. Such a statement shall be irrevocable.
(2) In the case referred to in paragraph 1 hereof, the court shall approve the resolution to suspend the surrender procedure, and shall order the custody against the accused and inform the competent department of the Ministry of Interior accordingly in order to carry out the surrender.

DECISION ON THE REQUEST FOR SURRENDER
Article 36

(1) The court chamber shall bring the resolution in compliance with the request for surrender of the accused to the International Criminal court if it finds that the request is related to the person against whom the surrender procedure has been conducted and that the criminal offence in question is the offence for which the International Criminal Court is competent in accordance with its Statute, and that there are no impediments to the surrender in accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
(2) Otherwise, the court chamber shall bring the decision rejecting the request of the International Criminal Court. When the decision on the surrender has been finally rejected, the surrender procedure may be renewed by the implementation of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act with regard to renewal of procedure or based on the new request of the International Criminal Court.
(3) When the decision on surrender was brought, the custody may last until the surrender itself.

CONTROL OF DECISION ON SURRENDER
Article 37

The decision rejecting the request of the International Criminal Court for the surrender of the accused, by virtues of its official duty together with the case file shall be submitted to the Superior Court of the Republic of Croatia which shall, in a panel of five judges, consider the request and the first-instance decision, and shall issue a decision to confirm, repeal or alter the decision of the county court.

APPEAL TO THE DECISION ON SURRENDER
Article 38

(1) The State Attorney, the accused and his/her defense counsel are entitled within the period of eight days to appeal against the decision of the county court granting the request of the International Criminal Court to surrender the accused. The appeal shall stay the execution of the decision, and it shall be decided on by a panel of the Superior Court of the Republic of Croatia consisting of five judges.
(2) The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act related to deciding on the appeal shall be applied accordingly to the procedure of deciding on appeal conducted by the panel of the Superior Court of the Republic of Croatia referred to in paragraph 1 above.

FINAL DECISION
Article 39

(1) A valid court decision granting the surrender of the accused to the International Criminal Court is final.
(2) It may be appealed against the decision granting the surrender of the accused to the International Criminal Court by means of a constitutional complaint filed with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.
(3) The Minister competent for the judiciary affairs may temporarily postpone the surrender of the accused on the account of this person's illness or for other particularly justified reason.

SERVICE OF DECISION
Article 40

The valid and final decision granting the request of the International Criminal Court to surrender the accused shall be served through the Ministry competent for the judiciary affairs to the Government that shall then forward it to the International Criminal Court. The decision shall also be forwarded to the competent department of the Ministry of the Interior for the execution.

SURRENDER OF THE ACCUSED
Article 41

The surrender of the accused pursuant to the statement on the voluntary surrender or pursuant to the valid and final decision on the surrender shall be carried out by the Ministry of the Interior.

LAW on the Implementation of the Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Prosecution of Crimes against International Law of War and Humanitarian Law

VI APPREHENSION AND SURRENDER


Article 31

(1) The competent investigative judge shall interrogate the person indicted about the matter, and if the judge establishes that this is the person whose apprehension, temporary apprehension or surrender has been requested by the International Criminal Court, the judge shall order that this person be held in custody.

(2) The custody ordered by the investigative judge may have the maximum duration as the custody during the investigation pursuant to Article 16 hereof.

(3) During the interrogation, the investigative judge shall establish whether the person indicted wants to surrender to the International criminal Court without the surrender procedure. In such a case a special document shall be drawn up in which the person in question shall confirm that he/she wants to surrender to the International Criminal Court without the surrender procedure, and that he/she waives all remedies which can be used in this procedure. In such a case the investigative judge shall decide on the need for custody in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure.

(4) Exceptionally, the person indicted may make a statement before the public attorney in charge prior to the apprehension, and a document mentioned in paragraph 3 above shall be drawn up in such a case, to the effect that he/she wants to voluntarily surrender to the International Criminal Court without being subjected to the surrender procedure. In this case the public attorney may request the investigative judge to order the person indicted to be put in custody in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure.

(5) The statement from paragraphs 3 and 4 above shall be irrevocable.

LAW on the Implementation of the Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Prosecution of Crimes against International Law of War and Humanitarian Law

VI APPREHENSION AND SURRENDER

Article 33

In the procedure conducted to decide on the request of the International Criminal Court for the surrender of the person indicted, the court shall inform the person indicted about the request and the charges against him/her and shall interrogate him/her about the crimes he/she is being charged with and about other circumstances which are important for deciding on the request.

RELEVANT ROME STATUTE PROVISIONS

Article 89
Surrender of persons to the Court
1. The Court may transmit a request for the arrest and surrender of a person, together with the material supporting the request outlined in article 91, to any State on the territory of which that person may be found and shall request the cooperation of that State in the arrest and surrender of such a person. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and the procedure under their national law, comply with requests for arrest and surrender.
2. Where the person sought for surrender brings a challenge before a national court on the basis of the principle of ne bis in idem as provided in article 20, the requested State shall immediately consult with the Court to determine if there has been a relevant ruling on admissibility. If the case is admissible, the requested State shall proceed with the execution of the request. If an admissibility ruling is pending, the requested State may postpone the execution of the request for surrender of the person until the Court makes a determination on admissibility.
3. (a) A State Party shall authorize, in accordance with its national procedural law, transportation through its territory of a person being surrendered to the Court by another State, except where transit through that State would impede or delay the surrender.
(b) A request by the Court for transit shall be transmitted in accordance with article 87. The request for transit shall contain:
(i) A description of the person being transported;
(ii) A brief statement of the facts of the case and their legal characterization; and
(iii) The warrant for arrest and surrender;
(c) A person being transported shall be detained in custody during the period of transit;
(d) No authorization is required if the person is transported by air and no landing is scheduled on the territory of the transit State;
(e) If an unscheduled landing occurs on the territory of the transit State, that State may require a request for transit from the Court as provided for in subparagraph (b). The transit State shall detain the person being transported until the request for transit is received and the transit is effected, provided that detention for purposes of this subparagraph may not be extended beyond 96 hours from the unscheduled landing unless the request is received within that time.
4. If the person sought is being proceeded against or is serving a sentence in the requested State for a crime different from that for which surrender to the Court is sought, the requested State, after making its decision to grant the request, shall consult with the Court.