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Part 9 International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance: Coopération Internationale Et Assistance Judiciaire, Art.92 Provisional arrest/Arrestation provisoire

William A. Schabas

From: The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute (2nd Edition)

William A Schabas

Content type:
Book content
Product:
Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law [OSAIL]
Series:
Oxford Commentaries on International Law
Published in print:
22 September 2016
ISBN:
9780198739777

From: Oxford Public International Law (http://opil.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved. Subscriber: null; date: 08 December 2023

Subject(s):
Elements of crimes — International criminal law, victims — International criminal law, conduct of proceedings — Evidence

(p. 1308) Article 92.  Provisional arrest/Arrestation provisoire

  1. 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.

  1. 1.  En cas d’urgence, la Cour peut demander l’arrestation provisoire de la personne recherchée en attendant que soient présentées la demande de remise et les pièces justificatives visées à l’article 91.

  1. 2.  The request for provisional arrest shall be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record and shall contain:

  1. 2.  La demande d’arrestation provisoire est faite par tout moyen laissant une trace écrite et contient:

    1. a)  Information describing the person sought, sufficient to identify the person, and information as to that person’s probable location;

    1. a)  Le signalement de la personne recherchée, suffisant pour l’identifier, et des renseignements sur le lieu où elle se trouve probablement;

    1. 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;

    1. b)  L’exposé succinct des crimes pour lesquels la personne est recherchée et des faits qui seraient constitutifs de ces crimes, y compris, si possible, la date et le lieu où ils se seraient produits;

    1. c)  A statement of the existence of a warrant of arrest or a judgment of conviction against the person sought; and

    1. c)  Une déclaration affirmant l’existence à l’encontre de la personne recherchée d’un mandat d’arrêt ou d’un jugement établissant sa culpabilité; et

    1. d)  A statement that a request for surrender of the person sought will follow.

    1. d)  Une déclaration indiquant qu’une demande de remise de la personne recherchée suivra.

  1. 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.

  1. 3.  Une personne provisoirement arrêtée peut être remise en liberté si l’État requis n’a pas reçu la demande de remise et les pièces justificatives visées à l’article 91 dans le délai prescrit par le Règlement de procédure et de preuve. Toutefois, cette personne peut consentir à être remise avant l’expiration de ce délai si la législation de l’État requis le permet. Dans ce cas, l’État requis procède aussitôt que possible à sa remise à la Cour.

  1. 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.

  1. 4.  La mise en liberté de la personne recherchée prévu au paragraphe 3, est sans préjudice de son arrestation ultérieure et de sa remise si la demande de remise accompagnée des pièces justificatives est présentée par la suite.

(p. 1309) Introductory Comments

Preparation of the full dossier for arrest and surrender may take some time. The Statute allows for interim or provisional measures to allow for apprehension of a suspect while this is being done.

Drafting of the Provision

The 1993 International Law Commission draft prepared by the Working Group contained a provision entitled ‘Provisional measures’. It authorized the Court ‘in cases of urgency’ to request a State to provisionally arrest a person sought for surrender, to seize evidence, to take measures to prevent escape of a suspect, injury to or intimidation of a witness, or destruction of evidence.1 The Working Group referred to the Model Treaty on Extradition2 and the proposed statute for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia prepared by the three rapporteurs of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.3 The provision was revised somewhat in the 1994 draft, using the more moderate criterion of ‘in case of need’, and making the list exemplary rather than exhaustive. It also required the Court to follow up an application for provisional measures with a formal request for assistance. The commentary explained that the text was ‘essentially an empowering provision so far as the court is concerned’, adding that obligations with respect to cooperation were dealt with elsewhere.4

The provision in the Preparatory Committee draft on provisional arrest was largely similar to the text of article 92, with the exception of a few details of a technical nature. There was as yet no agreement on terminology (‘surrender’, ‘transfer’, ‘extradition’),5 nor consensus on the time limit before the accused person could be released, something that was ultimately delegated to the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.6 There was a paragraph in square brackets, concerning protection of witnesses, but it was ultimately moved to article 87(4) at the Rome Conference.

Analysis and Interpretation

Two other provisions of the Rome Statute cross-reference article 92. Article 58(5), which deals with the powers of the Pre-Trial Chamber, says that ‘[o]‌n the basis of the warrant of arrest, the Court may request the provisional arrest or the arrest and surrender of the person under Part 9’. According to article 59(1), ‘[a] State Party which has received a request for provisional arrest or for arrest and surrender shall immediately take steps to arrest the person in question in accordance with its laws and the provisions of Part 9’.

(p. 1310) The Court may only make such a request ‘[i]‌n urgent cases’. Provisional arrest must be followed by a formal presentation of a request for surrender, accompanied by the requisite documents.7

At the ad hoc tribunals, the request for provisional arrest may be made by the Prosecutor.8 At the International Criminal Court, it must be made by a Pre-Trial Chamber.9 In 2015, a Pre-Trial Chamber issued a very general order to the Registrar:

Orders the Registrar, each and every time that information of travel, whether planned or ongoing, as regards persons at large who are the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Court is relayed to the Court or one of its organs and such travel is related to a State to which no request for arrest and surrender of the relevant person has yet been transmitted, to prepare and transmit such request to the relevant State in accordance with articles 89 and 91 of the Statute, or, in urgent cases, to request the provisional arrest of that person in accordance with article 92 of the Statute pending the presentation of the request for arrest and surrender.10

Noting variation in how the Court deals with such situations, and highlighting the need for harmonization, the Pre-Trial Chamber said it issued the order ‘relating to the scenario whereby the Court, or any of its organs, receives information relating to travel, whether planned or ongoing, of persons for whom a warrant of arrest, still in effect, has been issued by the Court and who are still at large’.11

When a request is made to a State in accordance with article 92, the Registrar ‘invites’ the State to inform him or her of the arrest, and ‘to provide, inter alia’, personal details and other information concerning the arrest, including a confirmation of ‘the information given to the arrested person in respect of his or her rights’.12 The purpose of the term ‘inter alia’ is not apparent, because the Regulations indicate that the State should provide, in addition to specific requirements, ‘[a]‌ny other useful information’.

Form and Content of Request (Art. 92(2))

Given the exceptional nature of a request for provisional arrest, the requirements in terms of the form and content are less demanding. In contrast with article 91 of the Statute, there is no need to provide ‘documents, statements or information’. Provisional arrest is governed by article 59 of the Rome Statute, which allows for interim release in ‘urgent and exceptional circumstances’.

Release from Custody and Consent to Surrender (Art. 92(3), (4))

The Court is to meet the requirements of article 91 within sixty days of a provisional arrest conducted pursuant to article 92.13 If the requested State has not received the full request for arrest and surrender within this delay, it may release the suspect, if interim release has not already been granted pursuant to article 59 of the Statute. The individual (p. 1311) may, however, consent to surrender to the Court before the expiration of this delay, if this is authorized by the law of the State Party that has been requested to arrest and surrender the suspect. Early surrender avoids subsequent formalities,14 and is sometimes advantageous to the accused person. The relevant provision is derived from article 6 of the UN Model Treaty on Extradition.15

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.

Bibliography

  • Julien Cazala, ‘Article 92’, in Fernandez and Pacreau, Statut de Rome, pp. 1873–80.

  • Frederick Harhoff and Phakiso Mochochoko, ‘International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance’, in Lee, Elements and Rules, pp. 637–70.

  • Claus Kreß and Kimberly Prost, ‘Article 92’, in Triffterer and Ambos, Commentary, pp. 2075–8.

  • Karel de Meester, ‘Article 92’, in De Hert, Code, pp. 446–7.

  • Jörg Meißner, Die Zusammerenarbeit mit dem Internationalen Strafgerichtshof nach dem Römischen Statut, Munich: C. H. Beck, 2002.

  • Phakiso Mochochoko, ‘International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance’, in Lee, The Making of the Rome Statute, pp. 305–17.

Footnotes:

1  ILC 1993 Working Group Report, p. 129.

2  Model Treaty on Extradition, UN Doc. A/RES/45/116, Annex, art. 9.

3  Proposal for an International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia by Rapporteurs (Corell-Türk-Thune) under the CSCE Moscow Human Rights Dimension to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, 9 February 1993, UN Doc. S/25307, art. 55.

4  ILC 1994 Final Report, p. 62.

5  See this Commentary, art. 89, Drafting of the provision.

6  Preparatory Committee Draft Statute, pp. 141–2.

7  See Rome Statute, art. 91, for the requirements.

8  Rules of Procedure and Evidence [of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia], Rule 40; Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Rule 40.

9  E.g. Bemba (ICC- 01/05-01/08), Demande d’arrestation provisoire de M. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo adressée au Royaume de Belgique, 23 May 2008.

10  Gicheru et al. (ICC-01/09-01/15), Orders to the Registrar concerning action to be taken in case of information relating to travel of suspects, 15 April 2015, pp. 5–6.

11  Ibid., p. 3.

12  Regulations of the Registry, ICC-BD/03-01-06, Reg. 77.

13  Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Rule 188. See: Frederick Harhoff and Phakiso Mochochoko, ‘International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance’, in Lee, Elements and Rules, pp. 637–70, at p. 658.

14  Ibid., Rule 189. See: Frederick Harhoff and Phakiso Mochochoko, ‘International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance’, in Lee, Elements and Rules, pp. 637–70, at p. 659.

15  Model Treaty on Extradition, UN Doc. A/RES/45/116, Annex, art. 6.