CHAPTER TWO
EXTRADITION

Division one
Requesting extradition

Section 489

(1) The Ministry of Justice may request extradition of an accused1 from another State on the basis of the request by the court which issued a warrant of arrest under Article 490.

(2) The Ministry of Justice may refrain from making the request if extradition from abroad cannot be expected. It shall inform to this effect the court which issued the warrant of arrest under Article 490.

CHAPTER TWO
EXTRADITION

Division Two

Section 498
Extradition abroad

(1) The requests by foreign authorities for extradition of a person from the Slovak Republic shall be submitted to the Ministry of Justice.

CHAPTER TWO
EXTRADITION

Division Two

Section 502
Preliminary investigation

(1) Preliminary investigation shall be conducted by the prosecutor of a regional prosecution office, to whom the ministry of justice forwarded the request by a foreign authority for extradition abroad, or in whose district the person to be extradited to the requesting State was arrested or lives. If the preliminary investigation was opened before delivery of the request for extradition the prosecutor informs about it immediately the ministry of justice.

CHAPTER TWO
EXTRADITION

Division Two

Section 510
Granting of extradition

(1) The Minister of Justice shall have the authority to grant extradition; he may not grant extradition if either the Regional Court or the Supreme Court under Article 509 found that extradition was inadmissible.

(2) If the court found the extradition admissible, the Minister of Justice may decide not to grant extradition if :

a) there is reasonable ground to believe that the criminal proceedings in the requesting State did not or would not comply with the principles of Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or that the prison sentence imposed or anticipated in the requesting State would not be executed in accordance with the requirements of Article 3 of the said Convention,
b) there is reasonable ground to believe that the person whose extradition is sought would in the requesting State be subjected to persecution for reasons of his origin, race, religion, association with a particular national minority or class, his nationality or political opinions or that due to these factors his status in the criminal proceedings or in the enforcement of the sentence would be prejudiced,
c) taking into account the age and personal circumstances of the person whose extradition is sought, he would most likely be inadequately severely punished by extradition in proportion to the level of gravity of the criminal offence he allegedly committed,
d) in the case of the criminal offence, for which the extradition is requested, the capital punishment may be imposed in the requesting State, unless the requesting State gives a guarantee to the effect that the capital punishment will not be imposed, or
e) requesting State requests the extradition in order to execute capital punishment.

(3) If the minister of justice does not allow the extradition to proceed, the ministry of justice shall submit the matter to the General Prosecution Office in order to commence criminal prosecution in compliance with the legal order of the Slovak Republic.

CHAPTER FIVE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE

Division Two
Requests by Slovak authorities

Section 532
Form of transmission of requests

(1) Requests for legal assistance emanating from the Slovak pre-trial authorities shall be transmitted abroad through the General Prosecutor’s Office. Requests for legal assistance emanating from the Slovak courts shall be transmitted abroad through the Ministry of Justice. Diplomatic channels shall not be excluded.

(2) If an international treaty provides so, the Slovak authorities may transmit their requests abroad through other channels than the ones provided for in paragraph 1. The policeman may transmit the requests abroad solely through the good offices of a prosecutor.

CHAPTER FIVE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE

Division Three
Requests by foreign authorities

Section 538
Responsibility for execution of requests

(1) Requests of a foreign authority for legal assistance shall be sent to the Ministry of Justice.

(2) The district prosecutor’s office in whose district the requested assistance shall be carried out shall have the responsibility for the execution of the request for legal assistance made by a foreign authority. If more prosecutors` offices have territorial jurisdiction, the ministry of justice shall send the request to the General Prosecution for the decision on which prosecution office shall provide for its execution.

(3) If the foreign authority requests that the examination of a person or another act of legal assistance shall be executed by the court by the reason of applicability of the act in the criminal proceedings in requesting State, the prosecutor shall submit the request in that part for execution to the District Court in whose district the requested assistance shall be carried out. If the exclusive subject of the request is the act, which has to be executed by a court, the request shall be sent to the court directly by the Ministry of Justice.

Article 87
Requests for cooperation: general provisions
1. (a) The Court shall have the authority to make requests to States Parties for cooperation. The requests shall be transmitted through the diplomatic channel or any other appropriate channel as may be designated by each State Party upon ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Subsequent changes to the designation shall be made by each State Party in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.