When the FBI Seeks Extradition…®
BILATERAL EXTRADITION TREATIES
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Extradition
TIAS 12050
1985 U.S.T. LEXIS 192
June 25, 1985, Date-Signed
December 23, 1986, Date-In-Force
STATUS:
[*1] Supplementary treaty, with annex, signed at Washington June 25, 1985; Transmitted by the President of the United States of America to the Senate July 17, 1985 (Treaty Doc. No. 99-8, 99th Cong., 1st Sess.);
Reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations July 8, 1986 (S. Ex. Rept. No. 99-17, 99th Cong., 2d Sess.);
Advice and consent to ratification by the Senate July 17, 1986;
Ratified by the President November 6, 1986;
Ratified by the United Kingdom December 15, 1986;
Ratifications exchanged at London December 23, 1986;
Proclaimed by the President February 4, 1988;
Entered into force December 23, 1986.
SUPPLEMENTARY TREATY CONCERNING THE EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND SIGNED AT LONDON ON 8 JUNE 1972 n1
n1 TIAS 8468; 28 UST 227.
TEXT:
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
CONSIDERING THAT:
The Supplementary Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with Annex, was signed at Washington on June 25, 1985, the text of which, as amended, is hereto annexed; [*2]
The Senate of the United States of America by its resolution of July 17, 1986, two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein, gave its advice and consent to ratification of the Treaty, with Annex, subject to the following amendments:
"(1) Amend Article 1 to read as follows:
'For the purposes of the Extradition Treaty, none of the following shall be regarded as an offense of a political character:
(a) an offense for which both Contracting Parties have the obligation pursuant to a multilateral international agreement to extradite the person sought or to submit his case to their competent authorities for decision as to prosecution;
(b) murder, voluntary manslaughter, and assault causing grievous bodily harm;
(c) kidnapping, abduction, or serious unlawful detention, including taking a hostage;
(d) an offense involving the use of a bomb, grenade, rocket, firearm, letter or parcel bomb, or any incendiary device if this use endangers any person; and
(e) an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offenses or participation as an accomplice of a person who commits or attempts to commit such an offense.'
(2) Amend Article 2 to read as follows:
'Nothing in this Supplementary Treaty [*3] shall be interpreted as imposing the obligation to extradite if the judicial authority of the requested Party determines that the evidence of criminality presented is not sufficient to sustain the charge under the provisions of the treaty. The evidence of criminality must be such as, according to the law of the requested Party, would justify committal for trial if the offense had been committed in the territory of the requested Party.
'In determining whether an individual is extraditable from the United States, the judicial authority of the United States shall permit the individual sought to present evidence on the questions of whether:
(1) there is probable cause;
(2) a defense to extradition specified in the Extradition Treaty or this Supplementary Treaty, and within the jurisdiction of the courts, exists; and
(3) the act upon which the request for extradition is based would constitute an offense punishable under the laws of the United States.
'Probable cause means whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that:
(1) the person arrested or summoned to appear is the person sought;
(2) in the case of a person accused of having committed [*4] a crime, an offense has been committed by the accused; and
(3) in the case of a person alleged to have been convicted of an offense, a certificate of conviction or other evidence of conviction or criminality exists.'
(3) Insert after Article 2 the following new article:
'Article 3
'(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Supplementary Treaty, extradition shall not occur if the person sought establishes to the satisfaction of the competent judicial authority by a preponderance of the evidence that the request for extradition has in fact been made with a view to try or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality, or political opinions, or that he would, if surrendered, be prejudiced at his trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions.
'(b) In the United States, the competent judicial authority shall only consider the defense to extradition set forth in paragraph (a) for offenses listed in Article 1 of this Supplementary Treaty. A finding under paragraph (a) shall be immediately appealable by either party to the United States district court, or court of appeals, as appropriate. [*5] The appeal shall receive expedited consideration at every stage. The time for filing a notice of appeal shall be 30 days from the date of the filing of the decision. In all other respects, the applicable provisions of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure or Civil Procedure, as appropriate, shall govern the appeals process.'
(4) Renumber the remaining articles 4, 5, 6, 7."
The Senate also included in its resolution the following declaration:
"The Senate of the United States declares that it will not give its advice and consent to any treaty that would narrow the political offense exception with a totalitarian or other non-democratic regime and that nothing in the Supplementary Treaty with the United Kingdom shall be considered a precedent by the executive branch or the Senate for other treaties."
The Treaty, with Annex, was ratified, subject to the aforesaid amendments, by the President of the United States of America on November 6, 1986, in pursuance of the advice and consent of the Senate, and the Treaty, as amended, was ratified on the part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on December 15, 1986;
The instruments of ratification of the Treaty, [*6] as amended, were exchanged at London on December 23, 1986, and the Treaty entered into force on that date in accordance with Article 6;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, proclaim and make public the Treaty and Annex to the end that they be observed and fulfilled with good faith on and after December 23, 1986, by the United States of America and by the citizens of the United States of America and all other persons subject to the jurisdiction thereof.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have signed this proclamation and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
DONE at the city of Washington fourth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred twelfth.
[SEAL]
By the President: Ronald Reagan
George P. Shultz
Secretary of State
The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
Desiring to make more effective the Extradition Treaty between the Contracting Parties, signed at London on 8 June 1972 (hereinafter referred to as "the Extradition Treaty"): [*7]
Have resolved to conclude a Supplementary Treaty and have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1
For the purposes of the Extradition Treaty, none of the following shall be regarded as an offense of a political character:
(a) an offense for which both Contracting Parties have the obligation pursuant to a multilateral international agreement to extradite the person sought or to submit his case to their competent authorities for decision as to prosecution;
(b) murder, voluntary manslaughter, and assault causing grievous bodily harm;
(c) kidnapping, abduction, or serious unlawful detention, including taking a hostage;
(d) an offense involving the use of a bomb, grenade, rocket, firearm, letter or parcel bomb, or any incendiary device if this use endangers any person; and
(e) an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offenses or participation as an accomplice of a person who commits or attempts to commit such an offense.
ARTICLE 2
Nothing in this Supplementary Treaty shall be interpreted as imposing the obligation to extradite if the judicial authority of the requested Party determines that the evidence of criminality presented is not sufficient to sustain the charge under the provisions [*8] of the treaty. The evidence of criminality must be such as, according to the law of the requested Party, would justify committal for trial if the offense had been committed in the territory of the requested Party.
In determining whether an individual is extraditable from the United States, the judicial authority of the United States shall permit the individual sought to present evidence on the questions of whether:
(1) there is probable cause;
(2) a defense to extradition specified in the Extradition Treaty or this Supplementary Treaty, and within the jurisdiction of the courts, exists; and
(3) the act upon which the request for extradition is based would constitute an offense punishable under the laws of the United States.
Probable cause means whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that:
(1) the person arrested or summoned to appear is the person sought;
(2) in the case of a person accused of having committed a crime, an offense has been committed by the accused; and
(3) in the case of a person alleged to have been convicted of an offense, a certificate of conviction or other evidence of conviction or criminality [*9] exists.
ARTICLE 3
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Supplementary Treaty, extradition shall not occur if the person sought establishes to the satisfaction of the competent judicial authority by a preponderance of the evidence that the request for extradition has in fact been made with a view to try or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality, or political opinions, or that he would, if surrendered, be prejudiced at his trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions.
(b) In the United States, the competent judicial authority shall only consider the defense to extradition set forth in paragraph (a) for offenses listed in Article 1 of this Supplementary Treaty. A finding under paragraph (a) shall be immediately appealable by either party to the United States district court, or court of appeals, as appropriate. The appeal shall receive expedited consideration at every stage. The time for filing a notice of appeal shall be 30 days from the date of the filing of the decision. In all other respects, the applicable provisions of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure or [*10] Civil Procedure, as appropriate, shall govern the appeals process.
ARTICLE 4
Article VIII, paragraph (2) of the Extradition Treaty is amended to read as follows:
"(2) A person arrested upon such an application shall be set at liberty upon the expiration of sixty days from the date of his arrest if a request for his extradition shall not have been received. This provision shall not prevent the institution of further proceedings for the extradition of the person sought if a request for extradition is subsequently received."
ARTICLE 5
This Supplementary Treaty shall apply to any offence committed before or after this Supplementary Treaty enters into force, provided that this Supplementary Treaty shall not apply to an offence committed before this Supplementary Treaty enters into force which was not an offence under the laws of both Contracting Parties at the time of its commission.
ARTICLE 6
This Supplementary Treaty shall form an integral part of the Extradition Treaty and shall apply:
(a) in relation to the United Kingdom: to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the territories for whose international relations the United Kingdom is [*11] responsible which are listed in the Annex to this Supplementary Treaty;
(b) to the United States of America;
and references to the territory of a Contracting Party shall be construed accordingly.
ARTICLE 7
This Supplementary Treaty shall be subject to ratification and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible. It shall enter into force upon the exchange of instruments of ratification. n1 It shall be subject to termination in the same manner as the Extradition Treaty.
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n1 Dec. 23, 1986.
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[EXCHANGE OF NOTES]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON
August 19, 1986
Sir:
I have the honor to refer to the Supplementary Treaty signed at Washington on June 25, 1985 concerning the Extradition Treaty Between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed at London on June 8, 1972.
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States to ratification, the President transmitted the Supplementary Treaty to the Senate. [*12] On July 17, the Senate approved a resolution advising and consenting to the ratification of the treaty subject to the following amendments:
(1) Amend Article 1 to read as follows:
"For the purposes of the Extradition Treaty, none of the following shall be regarded as an offense of a political character:
(a) an offense for which both Contracting Parties have the obligation pursuant to a multilateral international agreement to extradite the person sought or to submit his case to their competent authorities for decision as to prosecution;
(b) murder, voluntary manslaughter, and assault causing grievous bodily harm;
(c) kidnapping, abduction, or serious unlawful detention, including taking a hostage;
(d) an offense involving the use of a bomb, grenade, rocket, firearm, letter or parcel bomb, or any incendiary device if this use endangers any person; and
(e) an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offenses or participation as an accomplice of a person who commits or attempts to commit such an offense."
(2) Amend Article 2 to read as follows:
"Nothing in this Supplementary Treaty shall be interpreted as imposing the obligation to extradite if the judicial authority of the [*13] requested Party determines that the evidence of criminality presented is not sufficient to sustain the charge under the provisions of the treaty. The evidence of criminality must be such as, according to the law of the requested Party, would justify committal for trial if the offense had been committed in the territory of the requested Party.
"In determining whether an individual is extraditable from the United States, the judicial authority of the United States shall permit the individual sought to present evidence on the questions of whether:
(1) there is probable cause;
(2) a defense to extradition specified in the Extradition Treaty or this Supplementary Treaty, and within the jurisdiction of the courts, exists; and
(3) the act upon which the request for extradition is based would constitute an offense punishable under the laws of the United States.
"Probable cause means whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that:
(1) the person arrested or summoned to appear is the person sought;
(2) in the case of a person accused of having committed a crime, an offense has been committed by the accused; and
(3) in the case of [*14] a person alleged to have been convicted of an offense, a certificate of conviction or other evidence of conviction or criminality exists."
(3) Insert after Article 2 the following new article:
"Article 3
"(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Supplementary Treaty, extradition shall not occur if the person sought establishes to the satisfaction of the competent judicial authority by a preponderance of the evidence that the request for extradition has in fact been made with a view to try or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality, or political opinions, or that he would, if surrendered, be prejudiced at his trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions.
"(b) In the United States, the competent judicial authority shall only consider the defense to extradition set forth in paragraph (a) for offenses listed in Article 1 of this Supplementary Treaty. A finding under paragraph (a) shall be immediately appealable by either party to the United States district court, or court of appeals, as appropriate. The appeal shall receive expedited consideration at every stage. The time [*15] for filing a notice of appeal shall be 30 days from the date of the filing of the decision. In all other respects, the applicable provisions of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure or Civil Procedure, as appropriate, shall govern the appeals process."
(4) Renumber the remaining Articles 4, 5, 6, 7.
For your convenience, a fair copy of the text reflecting the amendments made to the articles of the Supplementary Treaty is enclosed. No changes were made to the testimonium clause or to the Annex.
The President can not execute the instrument of ratification with respect to the Supplementary Treaty except subject to the amendments set forth in the Senate resolution. Accordingly, before further action is taken with a view to ratification on the part of the United States, it is necessary that my Government ascertain whether the amendments recited above are acceptable to your Government.
If the amendments are acceptable to your Government, steps will be taken promptly, upon the receipt by my Government of notification to that effect, to complete arrangements for the execution by the President of the instrument of ratification. Arrangements may then be made for the exchange of instruments [*16] of ratification at London.
Accept, Sir, the renewed assurances of my high consideration.
Enclosure:
Fair copy of the text reflecting the amendments made to the articles by the Senate British embassy Washington
20 August 1986
Your Excellency
1. I have the honour to refer to your Note dated 19 August 1986 relating to the Supplementary Treaty signed at Washington on 25 June 1985 concerning the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed at London on 8 June 1972.
2. I have the honour to confirm that the amendments to the Supplementary Treaty incorporated in the resolution approved by the Senate on 17 July are acceptable to the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who will proceed towards ratification of the Supplementary Treaty as so amended.
3. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurance of my highest consideration.
SIGNATORIES:
For the Secretary of State:
Abraham D. Sofaer
The Honorable
Michael Jenkins, CMG,
British Charge d'Affaires ad interim.
M R H Jenkins
Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern [*17] Ireland
The Honourable George P Shultz
Secretary of State
US Department of State Washington DC
APPENDICES:
ANNEX
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands Dependencies
Gibraltar
Hong Kong
Montserrat
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
St. Helena
St. Helena Dependencies
The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the Island of Cyprus
Turks and Caicos Islands
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