Extradition and European Arrest Warrant Act

Chapter three - EXTRADITION PROCEDURE

Title I - Extradition at the request of another state

Article 13

(1) In cases of urgency the competent authorities of the requesting state may request from the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme Prosecution Office of Cassation the provisional arrest of the person sought, prior to submitting a request for extradition.

(2) A request for provisional arrest shall specify the existence of an act of detention, arraignment or of a conviction and the intention of the requesting state to file a request for extradition. The request should contain information about the criminal offence in respect of which extradition will be requested, and when and where such offence was committed, as well as a description of the person sought.

(3) Where the request for provisional arrest was filed by a state with which the Republic of Bulgaria has no extradition agreement, the Minister of Justice shall notify the Supreme Prosecution Office of Cassation of the existence of reciprocity.

(4) A request for provisional arrest may be sent by mail, telegraph, telex, fax, through the diplomatic channel, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) or in another way, allowing the production of a written record as evidence of its receipt and content.

(5) Once the person has been located in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and his/her identity has been ascertained, the Supreme Prosecution Office of Cassation shall detain him/her for a period of up to 72 hours and forward the request for provisional arrest together with all documents to the District Prosecutor in whose are the person is located.

(6) Within the period under para 5 the District Prosecutor shall appoint a defence counsel and an interpreter to the person where he/she has no command of the Bulgarian language and shall lodge an application for his/her provisional arrest with the respective District Court.

(7) The District Court shall review the application in pursuance of Art. 152a, paras 5 and 8 of the Criminal Procedure Code and shall pronounce a ruling whereby it shall apply a measure of provisional arrest or another measure of procedural coercion which will ensure the participation of the person in extradition proceedings. The measure of provisional arrest shall be taken for up to 40 days or another period, as provided for in an international treaty to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.

(8) A ruling under para 7 may be appealed and protested before the respective Appellate Court within three days.

(9) The Supreme Prosecution Office of Cassation shall forthwith notify the Minister of Justice and the requesting state of the measure applied.

(10) At the requested of the arrested person under the period specified in para 7 the District Court may modify provisional arrest into another measure of procedural coercion which can ensure the participation of the person in extradition proceedings, acting in pursuance of Art. 152b of the Criminal Procedure Code. The ruling of the District Court may be appealed and protested before the respective Appellate Court within three days.

(11) The prosecutor shall rescind the measure of provisional arrest where within the period of provisional arrest specified by the court the Republic of Bulgaria does not receive a request for extradition and the documents under Art. 9, para 3.

(12) Release of the person shall not be an obstacle to his/her further arrest to the purpose of extradition or to the extradition itself, where the request for extradition is received after expiry of the period under para 7.

Article 92
Provisional arrest
1. In urgent cases, the Court may request the provisional arrest of the person sought, pending presentation of the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91.
2. The request for provisional arrest shall be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record and shall contain:
(a) Information describing the person sought, sufficient to identify the person, and information as to that person's probable location;
(b) A concise statement of the crimes for which the person's arrest is sought and of the facts which are alleged to constitute those crimes, including, where possible, the date and location of the crime;
(c) A statement of the existence of a warrant of arrest or a judgement of conviction against the person sought; and
(d) A statement that a request for surrender of the person sought will follow.
3. A person who is provisionally arrested may be released from custody if the requested State has not received the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91 within the time limits specified in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. However, the person may consent to surrender before the expiration of this period if permitted by the law of the requested State. In such a case, the requested State shall proceed to surrender the person to the Court as soon as possible.
4. The fact that the person sought has been released from custody pursuant to paragraph 3 shall not prejudice the subsequent arrest and surrender of that person if the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request are delivered at a later date.