CONVENTION
DETERMINING THE STATE RESPONSIBLE FOR EXAMINING APPLICATIONS FOR
ASYLUM LODGED IN ONE OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES
(97/C 254/01)
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS,
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
GERMANY,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF
LUXEMBOURG
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
HAVING REGARD to the objective, fixed by the European
Council meeting in Strasbourg on 8 and 9 December 1989, of the
harmonization of their asylum policies;
DETERMINED, in keeping with their common humanitarian
tradition, to guarantee adequate protection to refugees in
accordance with the terms of the Geneva Convention of 28 July
1951, as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967
relating to the Status of Refugees, hereinafter referred to as
the 'Geneva Convention' and the 'New York
Protocol' respectively;
CONSIDERING the joint objective of an area without
internal frontiers in which the free movement of persons shall,
in particular, be ensured, in accordance with the provisions of
the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, as
amended by the Single European Act;
AWARE of the need, in pursuit of this objective, to take
measures to avoid any situations arising, with the result that
applicants for asylum are left in doubt for too long as regards
the likely outcome of their applications and concerned to provide
all applicants for asylum with a guarantee that their
applications will be examined by one of the Member States and to
ensure that applicants for asylum are not referred successively
from one Member State to another without any of these States
acknowledging itself to be competent to examine the application
for asylum;
DESIRING to continue the dialogue with the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees in order to achieve the above
objectives;
DETERMINED to co-operate closely in the application of
this Convention through various means, including exchanges of
information,
HAVE DECIDED TO CONCLUDE THIS CONVENTION AND TO THIS END
HAVE DESIGNATED AS THEIR PLENIPOTENTIARIES:
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS:
Melchior WATHELET
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Justice, Small and
Medium-sized Businesses and the Self-Employed
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK:
Hans ENGELL
Minister for Justice
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
GERMANY:
Dr. Helmut RÜCKRIEGEL
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany at
Dublin
Wolfgang SCHÜBLE
Federal Minister for the Interior
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC:
Ioannis VASSILIADES
Minister for Public Order
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN:
Josē Luis CORCUERA
Minister for the Interior
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:
Pierre JOXE
Minister for the Interior
THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND:
Ray BURKE
Minister for Justice and Minister for Communications
THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC:
Antonio GAVA
Minister for the Interior
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF
LUXEMBOURG:
Marc FISCHBACH
Minister for Education, Minister for Justice, Minister for the
Civil Service
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS:
Ernst Maurits Henricus HIRSCH BALLIN
Minister for Justice
THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC:
Manuel PEREIRA
Minister for the Interior
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND:
David WADDINGTON
Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home
Secretary)
Sir Nicholas Maxted FENN, KCMG
Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland at Dublin
WHO, having exchanged their Full Powers, found in good
and due form,
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
1. For the purposes of this Convention:
(a) 'Alien' means: any person other than a
national of a Member State;
(b) 'Application for asylum' means: a request
whereby an alien seeks from a Member State protection under the
Geneva Convention by claiming refugee status within the meaning
of Article 1 of the Geneva Convention, as amended by the New York
Protocol;
(c) 'Applicant for asylum' means: an alien who
has made an application for asylum in respect of which a final
decision has not yet been taken;
(d) 'Examination of an application for asylum'
means: all the measures for examination, decisions or rulings
given by the competent authorities on an application for asylum,
except for procedures to determine the State responsible for
examining the application for asylum prusuant to this
Convention;
(e) 'Residence permit' means: any authorization
issued by the authorities of a Member State authorizing an alien
to stay in its territory, with the exception of visas and
'stay permits' issued during examination of an
application for a residence permit or for asylum;
(f) 'Entry visa' means: authorization or decision
by a Member State to enable an alien to enter its territory,
subject to the other entry conditions being fulfilled;
(g) 'Transit visa' means: authorization or
decision by a Member State to enable an alien to transit through
its territory or pass through the transit zone of a port or
airport, subject to the other transit conditions being
fulfilled.
2. The nature of the visa shall be assessed in the light
of the definitions set out in paragraph 1 (f) and (g).
Article 2
The Member States reaffirm their obligations under the
Geneva Convention, as amended by the New York Protocol, with no
geographic restriction of the scope of these instruments, and
their commitment to co-operating with the services of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in applying these
instruments.
Article 3
1. Member States undertake to examine the application of
any alien who applies at the border or in their territory to any
one of them for asylum.
2. That application shall be examined by a single Member
State, which shall be determined in accordance with the criteria
defined in this Convention. The criteria set out in Articles 4 to
8 shall apply in the order in which they appear.
3. That application shall be examined by that State in
accordance with its national laws and its international
obligations.
4. Each Member State shall have the right to examine an
application for asylum submitted to it by an alien, even if such
examination is not its responsibility under the criteria defined
in this Convention, provided that the applicant for asylum agrees
thereto.
The Member State responsible under the above criteria is
then relieved of its obligations, which are transferred to the
Member State which expressed the wish to examine the application.
The latter State shall inform the Member State responsible under
the said criteria if the application has been referred to
it.
5. Any Member State shall retain the right, pursuant to
its national laws, to send an applicant for asylum to a third
State, in compliance with the provisions of the Geneva
Convention, as amended by the New York Protocol.
6. The process of determining the Member State
responsible for examining the application for asylum under this
Convention shall start as soon as an application for asylum is
first lodged with a Member State.
7. An applicant for asylum who is present in another
Member State and there lodges an application for asylum after
withdrawing his or her application during the process of
determining the State responsible shall be taken back, under the
conditions laid down in Article 13, by the Member State with
which that application for asylum was lodged, with a view to
completing the process of determining the State responsible for
examining the application for asylum.
This obligation shall cease to apply if the applicant for
asylum has since left the territory of the Member States for a
period of at least three months or has obtained from a Member
State a residence permit valid for more than three
months.
Article 4
Where the applicant for asylum has a member of his family
who has been recognized as having refugee status within the
meaning of the Geneva Convention, as amended by the New York
Protocol, in a Member State and is legally resident there, that
State shall be responsible for examining the application,
provided that the persons concerned so desire.
The family member in question may not be other than the
spouse of the applicant for asylum or his or her unmarried child
who is a minor of under eighteen years, or his or her father or
mother where the applicant for asylum is himself or herself an
unmarried child who is a minor of under eighteen
years.
Article 5
1. Where the applicant for asylum is in possession of a
valid residence permit, the Member State which issued the permit
shall be responsible for examining the application for
asylum.
2. Where the applicant for asylum is in possession of a
valid visa, the Member State which issued the visa shall be
responsible for examining the application for asylum, except in
the following situations:
(a) if the visa was issued on the written authorization
of another Member State, that State shall be responsible for
examining the application for asylum. Where a Member State first
consults the central authority of another Member State, inter
alia for security reasons, the agreement of the latter shall not
constitute written authorization within the meaning of this
provision.
(b) where the applicant for asylum is in possession of a
transit visa and lodges his application in another Member State
in which he is not subject to a visa requirement, that State
shall be responsible for examining the application for
asylum.
(c) where the applicant for asylum is in possession of a
transit visa and lodges his application in the State which issued
him or her with the visa and which has received written
confirmation from the diplomatic or consular authorities of the
Member State of destination that the alien for whom the visa
requirement was waived fulfilled the conditions for entry into
that State, the latter shall be responsible for examining the
application for asylum.
3. Where the applicant for asylum is in possession of
more than one valid residence permit or visa issued by different
Member States, the responsibility for examining the application
for asylum shall be assumed by the Member States in the following
order:
(a) the State which issued the residence permit
conferring the right to the longest period of residency or, where
the periods of validity of all the permits are identical, the
State which issued the residence permit having the latest expiry
date;
(b) the State which issued the visa having the latest
expiry date where the various visas are of the same
type;
(c) where visas are of different kinds, the State which
issued the visa having the longest period of validity, or, where
the periods of validity are identical, the State which issued the
visa having the latest expiry date. This provision shall not
apply where the applicant is in possession of one or more transit
visas, issued on presentation of an entry visa for another Member
State. In that case, that Member State shall be
responsible.
4. Where the applicant for asylum is in possession only
of one or more residence permits which have expired less than two
years previously or one or more visas which have expired less
than six months previously and enabled him or her actually to
enter the territory of a Member State, the provisions of
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall apply for such time
as the alien has not left the territory of the Member
States.
Where the applicant for asylum is in possession of one or
more residence permits which have expired more than two years
previously or one or more visas which have expired more than six
months previously and enabled him or her to enter the territory
of a Member State and where an alien has not left Community
territory, the Member State in which the application is lodged
shall be responsible.
Article 6
When it can be proved that an applicant for asylum has
irregularly crossed the border into a Member State by land, sea
or air, having come from a non-member State of the European
Communities, the Member State this entered shall be responsible
for examining the application for asylum.
That State shall cease to be responsible, however, if it
is proved that the applicant has been living in the Member State
where the application for asylum was made at least six months
before making his application for asylum. In that case it is the
latter Member State which is responsible for examining the
application for asylum.
Article 7
1. The responsibility for examining an application for
asylum shall be incumbent upon the Member State responsible for
controlling the entry of the alien into the territory of the
Member States, except where, after legally entering a Member
State in which the need for him or her to have a visa is waived,
the alien lodges his or her application for asylum in another
Member State in which the need for him or her to have a visa for
entry into the territory is also waived. In this case, the latter
State shall be responsible for examining the application for
asylum.
2. Pending the entry into force of an agreement between
Member States on arrangements for crossing external borders, the
Member State which authorizes transit without a visa through the
transit zone of its airports shall not be regarded as responsible
for control on entry, in respect of travellers who do not leave
the transit zone.
3. Where the application for asylum is made in transit in
an airport of a Member State, that State shall be responsible for
examination.
Article 8
Where no Member State responsible for examining the
application for asylum can be designated on the basis of the
other criteria listed in this Convention, the first Member State
with which the application for asylum is lodged shall be
responsible for examining it.
Article 9
Any Member State, even when it is not responsible under
the criteria laid out in this Convention, may, for humanitarian
reasons, based in particular on family or cultural grounds,
examine an application for asylum at the request of another
Member State, provided that the applicant so desires.
If the Member State thus approached accedes to the
request, responsibility for examining the application shall be
transferred to it.
Article 10
1. The Member State responsible for examining an
application for asylum according to the criteria set out in this
Convention shall be obliged to:
(a) Take charge under the conditions laid down in Article
11 of an applicant who has lodged an application for asylum in a
different Member State,
(b) Complete the examination of the application for
asylum,
(c) Readmit or take back under the conditions laid down
in Article 13 an applicant whose application is under examination
and who is irregularly in another Member State,
(d) Take back, under the conditions laid down in Article
13, an applicant who has withdrawn the application under
examination and lodged an application in another Member
State,
(e) Take back, under the conditions laid down in Article
13, an alien whose application is has rejected and who is
illegally in another Member State.
2. If a Member State issues to the applicant a residence
permit valid for more than three months, the obligations
specified in paragraph 1 (a) to (e) shall be transferred to that
Member State.
3. The obligations specified in paragraph 1 (a) to (d)
shall cease to apply if the alien concerned has left the
territory of the Member States for a period of at least three
months.
4. The obligations specified in paragraph 1 (d) and (e)
shall cease to apply if the State responsible for examining the
application for asylum, following the withdrawal or rejection of
the application, takes and enforces the necessary measures for
the alien to return to his country of oirigin or to another
country which he may lawfully enter.
Article 11
1. If a Member State with which an application for asylum
has been lodged considers that another Member State is
responsible for examining the application, it may, as quickly as
possible and in any case within the six months following the date
on which the application was lodged, call upon the other Member
State to take charge of the applicant.
If the request that charge be taken is not made within
the six-month time limit, responsibility for examining the
application for asylum shall rest with the State in which the
application was lodged.
2. The request that charge be taken shall contain
indications enabling the authorities of that other State to
ascertain whether it is responsible on the basis of the criteria
laid down in this Convention.
3. The State responsible in accordance with those
criteria shall be determined on the basis of the situation
obtaining when the applicant for asylum first lodged his
application with a Member State.
4. The Member State shall pronounce judgment on the
request within three months of receipt of the claim. Failure to
act within that period shall be tantamount to accepting the
claim.
5. Transfer of the applicant for asylum from the Member
State where the application was lodged to the Member State
responsible must take place not later than one month after
acceptance of the request to take charge or one month after the
conclusion of any proceedings initiated by the alien challenging
the transfer decision if the proceedings are
suspensory.
6. Measures taken under Article 18 may subsequently
determine the details of the process by which applicants shall be
taken in charge.
Article 12
Where an application for asylum is lodged with the
competent authorities of a Member State by an applicant who is on
the territory of another Member State, the determination of the
Member State responsible for examining the application for asylum
shall be made by the Member State on whose territory the
applicant is. The latter Member State shall be informed without
delay by the Member State which received the application and
shall then, for the purpose of applying this Convention, be
regarded as the Member State with which the application for
asylum was lodged.
Article 13
1. An applicant for asylum shall be taken back in the
cases provided for in Article 3 (7) and in Article 10 as
follows:
(a) the request for the applicant to be taken back must
provide indications enabling the State with which the request is
lodged to ascertain that it is responsible in accordance with
Article 3 (7) and with Article 10;
(b) the State called upon to take back the applicant
shall give an answer to the request within eight days of the
matter being referred to it. Should it acknowledge
responsibility, it shall then take back the applicant for asylum
as quickly as possible and at the latest one month after it
agrees to do so.
2. Measures taken under Article 18 may at a later date
set out the details of the procedure for taking the applicant
back.
Article 14
1. Member States shall conduct mutual exchanges with
regard to:
- national legislative or regulatory measures or
practices applicable in the field of asylum,
- statistical data on monthly arrivals of applicants for
asylum, and their breakdown by nationality. Such information
shall be forwarded quarterly through the General Secretariat of
the Council of the European Communities, which shall see that it
is circulated to the Member States and the Commission of the
European Communities and to the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees.
2. The Member States may conduct mutual exchanges with
regard to:
- general information on new trends in applications for
asylum,
- general information on the situation in the countries
of origin or of provenance of applicants for asylum.
3. If the Member State providing the information referred
to in paragraph 2 wants it to be kept confidential, the other
Member States shall comply with this wish.
Article 15
1. Each Member State shall communicate to any Member
State that so requests such information on individual cases as is
necessary for:
- determining the Member State which is responsible for
examining the application for asylum,
- examining the application for asylum,
- implementing any obligation arising under this
Convention.
2. This information may only cover:
- personal details of the applicant, and, where
appropriate, the members of his family (full name and where
appropriate, former name; nicknames or pseudonyms; nationality,
present and former; date and place of birth),
- identity and travel papers (references, validity, date
of issue, issuing authority, place of issue, etc.),
- other information necessary for establishing the
identity of the applicant,
- places of residence and routes travelled,
- residence permits or visas issued by a Member
State,
- the place where the application was lodged,
- the date any previous application for asylum was
lodged, the date the present application was lodged, the stage
reached in the proceedings and the decision taken, if
any.
3. Furthermore, one Member State may request another
Member State to let it know on what grounds the applicant for
asylum bases his or her application and, where applicable, the
grounds for any decisions taken concerning the applicant. It is
for the Member State from which the information is requested to
decide whether or not to impart it. In any event, communication
of the information requested shall be subject to the approval of
the applicant for asylum.
4. This exchange of information shall be effected at the
request of a Member State and may only take place between
authorities the designation of which by each Member State has
been communicated to the Committee provided for under Article
18.
5. The information exchanged may only be used for the
purposes set out in paragraph 1. In each Member State such
information may only be communicated to the authorities and
courts and tribunals entrusted with:
- determining the Member State which is responsible for
examining the application for asylum,
- examining the application for asylum,
- implementing any obligation arising under this
Convention.
6. The Member State that forwards the information shall
ensure that it is accurate and up-to-date.
If it appears that this Member State has supplied
information which is inaccurate or which should not have been
forwarded, the recipient Member State shall be immediately
informed thereof. They shall be obliged to correct such
information or to have it erased.
7. An applicant for asylum shall have the right to
receive, on request, the information exchanged concerning him or
her, for such time as it remains available.
If he or she establishes that such information is
inaccurate or should not have been forwarded, he or she shall
have the right to have it corrected or erased. This right shall
be exercised in accordance with the conditions laid down in
paragraph 6.
8. In each Member State concerned, the forwarding and
receipt of exchanged information shall be recorded.
9. Such information shall be kept for a period not
exceeding that necessary for the ends for which it was exchanged.
The need to keep it shall be examined at the appropriate moment
by the Member State concerned.
10. In any event, the information thus communicated shall
enjoy at least the same protection as is given to similar
information in the Member State which receives it.
11. If data are not processed automatically but are
handled in some other form, every Member State shall take the
appropriate measures to ensure compliance with this Article by
means of effective controls. If a Member State has a monitoring
budy of the type mentioned in paragraph 12, it may assign the
control task to it.
12. If one or more Member States wish to computerize all
or part of the information mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3, such
computerization is only possible if the countries concerned have
adopted laws applicable to such processing which implement the
principles of the Strasbourg Convention of 28 January 1981 for
the Protection of Individuals, with regard to automatic
processing of personal data and if they have entrusted an
appropriate national body with the independent monitoring of the
processing and use of data forwarded pursuant to this
Convention.
Article 16
1. Any Member State may submit to the Committee referred
to in Article 18 proposals for revision of this Convention in
order to eliminate difficulties in the application
thereof.
2. If it proves necessary to revise or amend this
Convention pursuant to the achievement of the objectives set out
in Article 8a of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, such achievement being linked in particular to the
establishment of a harmonized asylum and a common visa policy,
the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the
European Communities shall organize a meeting of the Committee
referred to in Article 18.
3. Any revision of this Convention or amendment hereto
shall be adopted by the Committee referred to in Article 18. It
shall enter into force in accordance with the provisions of
Article 22.
Article 17
1. If a Member State experiences major difficulties as a
result of a substantial change in the circumstances obtaining on
conclusion of this Convention, the State in question may bring
the matter before the Committee referred to in Article 18 so that
the latter may put to the Member States measures to deal with the
situation or adopt such revisions or amendments to this
Convention as appear necessary, which shall enter into force as
provided for in Article 16 (3).
2. If, after six months, the situation mentioned in
paragraph 1 still obtains, the Committee, acting in accordance
with Article 18 (2), may authorize the Member State affected by
that change to suspend temporarily the application of the
provisions of this Convention, without such suspension being
allowed to impede the achievement of the objectives mentioned in
Article 8a of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community or contravene other international obligations of the
Member States.
3. During the period of suspension, the Committee shall
continue its discussions with a view to revising the provisions
of this Convention, unless it has already reached an
agreement.
Article 18
1. A Committee shall be set up comprising one
representative of the Government of each Member State.
The Committee shall be chaired by the Member State
holding the Presidency of the Council of the European
Communities.
The Commission of the European Communities may
participate in the discussions of the Committee and the working
parties referred to in paragraph 4.
2. The Committee shall examine, at the request of one or
more Member States, any question of a general nature concerning
the application or interpretation of this Convention.
The Committee shall determine the measures referred to in
Article 11 (6) and Article 13 (2) and shall give the
authorization referred to in Article 17 (2).
The Committee shall adopt decisions revising or amending
the Convention pursuant to Articles 16 and 17.
3. The Committee shall take its decisions unanimously,
except where it is acting pursuant to Article 17 (2), in which
case it shall take its decisions by a majority of two-thirds of
the votes of its members.
4. The Committee shall determine its rules of procedure
and may set up working parties.
The Secretariat of the Committee and of the working
parties shall be provided by the General Secretariat of the
Council of the European Communities.
Article 19
As regards the Kingdom of Denmark, the provisions of this
Convention shall not apply to the Faroe Islands nor to Greenland
unless a declaration to the contrary is made by the Kingdom of
Denmark. Such a declaration may be made at any time by a
communication to the Government of Ireland which shall inform the
Governments of the other Member States thereof.
As regards the French Republic, the provisions of this
Convention shall apply only to the European territory of the
French Republic.
As regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the provisions
of this Convention shall apply only to the territory of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe.
As regards the United Kingdom the provisions of this
Convention shall apply only to the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland. They shall not apply to the
European territories for whose external relations the United
Kingdom is responsible unless a declaration to the contrary is
made by the United Kingdom. Such a declaration may be made at any
time by a communication to the Government of Ireland, which shall
inform the Governments of the other Member States
thereof.
Article 20
This Convention shall not be the subject of any
reservations.
Article 21
1. This Convention shall be open for the accession of any
State which becomes a member of the European Communities. The
instruments of accession will be deposited with the Government of
Ireland.
2. It shall enter into force in respect of any State
which accedes thereto on the first day of the third month
following the deposit of its instrument of accession.
Article 22
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval. The instruments of ratification,
acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Government of
Ireland.
2. The Government of Ireland shall notify the Governments
of the other Member States of the deposit of the instruments of
ratification, acceptance or approval.
3. This Convention shall enter into force on the first
day of the third month following the deposit of the instrument of
ratification, acceptance or approval by the last signatory State
to take this step.
The State with which the instruments of ratification,
acceptance or approval are deposited shall notify the Member
States of the date of entry into force of this
Convention.
In witness whereof, the undersigned plenipotentiaries
have hereunto set their hands.
Done at Dublin this fifteenth day of June in the year one
thousand nine hundred and ninety, in a single original, in the
Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian,
Portuguese and Spanish languages, the texts drawn up in each of
these languages being equally authentic and being deposited in
the archives of the Government of Ireland which shall transmit a
certified copy to each of the other Member States.
JOINT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHT OF
ASYLUM
The Member States declare that this Convention is without
prejudice either to the right of asylum to the extent to which it
is recognized by their respective constitutions or to the
application by the Member States of the provisions of the
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as
supplemented by the Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons of 28 September 1954 and by the Protocol
relating to the Status of Refugees of 31 January 1967.
Declaration by Denmark, Finland and Sweden
concerning
Article 7 of this Convention
Denmark, Finland and Sweden confirm that - as indicated
during their negotiations on accession to the Schengen agreements
- they will not invoke, in relation to other Member States which
ensure equal treatment, their declarations under Article 6 (1) of
the European Convention on Extradition as a ground for refusal of
extradition of residents from non-Nordic States.
Declaration on the concept of
'nationals'
The Council takes note of the Member States'
undertaking to apply the Council of Europe Convention of 21 March
1983 on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons in respect of the
nationals of each Member State within the meaning of Article 3
(4) of the said Convention. The Member States' undertaking
mentioned in the first paragraph is without prejudice to the
application of Article 7 (2) of this Convention.
Declaration by Greece re Article
5
Greece interprets Article 5 from the standpoint of
paragraph 3 thereof. This interpretation ensures compliance with
the conditions of the Greek constitution, which:
- expressly prohibits extradition of a foreigner pursued
for activities in defence of freedom, and
- distinguishes between political and so-called mixed
offences, for which the rules are not the same as for political
offences.
Declaration by Portugal on extradition requested
for an offence punishable by a life sentence or detention
order
Having entered a reservation in respect of the European
Convention on Extradition of 1957 to the effect that it will not
grant extradition of persons wanted for an offence punishable by
a life sentence or detention order, Portugal states that where
extradition is sought for an offence punishable by a life
sentence or detention order, it will grant extradition, in
compliance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of
the Portuguese Republic, as interpreted by its Constitutional
Court, only if it regards as sufficient the assurances given by
the requesting Member State that it will encourage, in accordance
with its law and practice regarding the carrying out of
sentences, the application of any measures of clemency to which
the person whose extradition is requested might be entitled.
Portugal reaffirms the validity of undertakings entered into in
existing international agreements to which it is party, in
particular in Article 5 of the Convention on Portuguese accession
to the Convention Applying the Schengen Agreement.
Council declaration on the follow up to the
Convention
The Council declares:
(a) that it considers that there should be a periodic
review, on the basis of information supplied by the Member
States, of:
- the implementation of this Convention,
- the functioning of this Convention after its entry into
force,
- the possibility for Member States to amend the
reservations entered in the framework of this Convention with a
view to easing the conditions for extradition or withdrawing its
reservations,
- the general functioning of extradition procedures
between the Member States;
- (b) that it will consider, one year after entry into
force of this Convention, whether jurisdiction should be given to
the Court of Justice of the European Communities.