RAPPORTEUR GROUP

Legal co-operation

GR-J(2018)14

17 August 2018[1]

Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 112)

Request by the Holy See to be invited to accede

 

Item to be considered by the GR-J at its meeting on 25 September 2018

 

 

1.         By a letter dated 2 May 2018, received and registered at the Secretariat General on 14 May 2018, Monseigneur Paul R. GALLAGHER, State Secretary for Relations of the Holy See with States, expressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the interest of the Holy See to be invited to accede to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 112) (see Appendix 1).

2.         According to Article 19, paragraph 1, of the Conventionand in line with the practice of the Council of Europe, the Secretariat proceeded to a consultation of member States of the Council of Europe and non-member States which are Parties to the Convention, requesting them to communicate to the Secretariat whether their authorities would object to the accession of the Holy See to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons if the request to be invited to accede was formally submitted to the Committee of Ministers. The deadline for replying was 23 July 2018. No objection was communicated to the Secretariat.

3.         The relevant provisions of the Convention can be summarised as follows.

a.         Summary of the Convention

4.         The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons was opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe and non-member States which have participated in its elaboration, in Strasbourg, on 21 March 1983. It entered into force on 1 July 1985. The chart of signatures and ratifications appears in Appendix 2.

5.         The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons is primarily intended to facilitate the social rehabilitation of prisoners by giving foreigners convicted of a criminal offence the possibility of serving their sentences in their own countries. Transfer may be requested by either the State in which the sentence was imposed (sentencing State) or the State of which the sentenced person is a national (administering State). It is subject to the consent of those two States as well as that of the sentenced person. The Convention also lays down the procedure for enforcement of the sentence following the transfer.

6.         The Convention has been complemented by an Additional Protocol (ETS No. 167), which was opened for signature on 18 December 1997 and entered into force on 1 June 2000. States having acceded to the Convention are entitled to accede to the Protocol thereto.


b.         Procedure for accession

7.         Article 19, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides that:

"After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, after consulting the Contracting States, may invite any State not a member of the Council and not mentioned in Article 18.1 to accede to this Convention, by a decision taken by the majority provided for in Article 20.d of the Statute of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the Committee".

8.         Given the above, the Deputies may wish to invite the Holy See to accede to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.


Appendix 1

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION (*)                                                                           Annex to the letter 43/2018

                                                                                                                                     dated 18 May 2018

SEGRETERIA DI STATO

SEZIONE

PER I RAPPORTI CON GLI STATI

N. 5824/18/RS

Vatican, 2 May 2018

Mr Secretary General,

I am writing to you in your capacity of Depositary of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, concluded in Strasbourg on 21 March 1983, to express the interest of the Holy See to be invited to accede to this Convention in the name and on behalf of the State of Vatican City.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the said Convention, I hereby would like to request you officially to convey our interest and carry out the necessary consultations with the member States of the Council of Europe and the non-member States Parties to this Convention for the accession of the Holy See, in the name and on behalf of the State of Vatican City, to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

Please accept, Mr Secretary General, the assurance of my highest consideration.

(signed)

Mgr PAUL R. GALLAGHER

State Secretary for Relations

of the Holy See with States

Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland

Secretary General

Council of Europe

Strasbourg

_____

(*)         Letter registered at the Secretariat General on 14 May 2018 – Or. Fr.


Appendix 2 – Chart of signatures and ratifications of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 112) – Status as of 7/08/2018

Title

Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons

Reference

ETS No. 112

Opening of the treaty

Strasbourg, 21/03/1983  - Treaty open for signature by the member States and the non-member States which have participated in its elaboration and for accession by other non-member States

Entry into Force

01/07/1985  - 3 Ratifications.

Members of the Council of Europe

Signature

Ratification

Entry into Force

Notes

R.

D.

A.

T.

C.

O.

Albania

19/05/1998

04/04/2000 

01/08/2000

D.

Andorra

04/11/1999

13/07/2000 

01/11/2000

D.

A.

Armenia

11/05/2001 a

01/09/2001

D.

Austria

21/03/1983

09/09/1986 

01/01/1987

D.

Azerbaijan

25/01/2001

25/01/2001 

01/05/2001

R.

D.

A.

Belgium

21/03/1983

06/08/1990 

01/12/1990

D.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

30/04/2004

15/04/2005 

01/08/2005

Bulgaria

30/09/1993

17/06/1994 

01/10/1994

D.

Croatia

25/01/1995 a

01/05/1995

D.

Cyprus

27/02/1984

18/04/1986 

01/08/1986

D.

Czech Republic

13/02/1992

15/04/1992 

01/01/1993

17

Denmark

21/03/1983

16/01/1987 

01/05/1987

D.

T.

Estonia

04/11/1993

28/04/1997 

01/08/1997

D.

Finland

29/01/1987 a

01/05/1987

D.

France

27/04/1983

11/02/1985 

01/07/1985

R.

D.

Georgia

21/10/1997 a

01/02/1998

D.

Germany

21/03/1983

31/10/1991 

01/02/1992

D.

O.

Greece

21/03/1983

17/12/1987 

01/04/1988

D.

Hungary

19/11/1991

13/07/1993 

01/11/1993

D.

Iceland

19/09/1989

06/08/1993 

01/12/1993

D.

Ireland

20/08/1986

31/07/1995 

01/11/1995

R.

D.

Italy

20/03/1984

30/06/1989 

01/10/1989

D.

Latvia

30/10/1996

02/05/1997 

01/09/1997

D.

Liechtenstein

03/05/1983

14/01/1998 

01/05/1998

D.

A.

Lithuania

25/01/1995

24/05/1996 

01/09/1996

D.

Luxembourg

21/03/1983

09/10/1987 

01/02/1988

D.

Malta

04/11/1988

26/03/1991 

01/07/1991

D.

Monaco

Montenegro

11/04/2002 a

06/06/2006

54

Netherlands

21/03/1983

30/09/1987 

01/01/1988

D.

T.

Norway

08/03/1985

09/12/1992 

01/04/1993

D.

A.

T.

Poland

22/11/1993

08/11/1994 

01/03/1995

D.

Portugal

21/03/1983

28/06/1993 

01/10/1993

D.

Republic of Moldova

06/05/1997

12/05/2004 

01/09/2004

D.

Romania

30/06/1995

23/08/1996 

01/12/1996

D.

C.

Russian Federation

07/04/2005

28/08/2007 

01/12/2007

D.

San Marino

17/03/2004

25/06/2004 

01/10/2004

Serbia

11/04/2002 a

01/08/2002

54

Slovak Republic

13/02/1992

15/04/1992 

01/01/1993

17

D.

Slovenia

14/05/1993

16/09/1993 

01/01/1994

Spain

10/06/1983

11/03/1985 

01/07/1985

D.

A.

Sweden

21/03/1983

09/01/1985 

01/07/1985

D.

A.

O.

Switzerland

21/03/1983

15/01/1988 

01/05/1988

D.

A.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

28/07/1999

28/07/1999 

01/11/1999

Turkey

19/06/1985

03/09/1987 

01/01/1988

D.

Ukraine

28/09/1995 a

01/01/1996

D.

United Kingdom

25/08/1983

30/04/1985 

01/08/1985

R.

D.

A.

C.

Non-members of the Council of Europe

Signature

Ratification

Entry into Force

Notes

R.

D.

A.

T.

C.

O.

Australia

05/09/2002 a

01/01/2003

Bahamas

12/11/1991 a

01/03/1992

D.

A.

Bolivia

02/03/2004 a

01/06/2004

D.

A.

Brazil

4

Canada

21/03/1983

13/05/1985 

01/09/1985

Chile

30/07/1998 a

01/11/1998

Costa Rica

14/04/1998 a

01/08/1998

Ecuador

12/07/2005 a

01/11/2005

D.

A.

Ghana

4

Honduras

09/03/2009 a

01/07/2009

India

16/01/2018 a

 01/05/2018

D.

A.

Israel

24/09/1997 a

01/01/1998

D.

Japan

17/02/2003 a

01/06/2003

D.

Korea

20/07/2005 a

01/11/2005

D.

Mauritius

18/06/2004 a

01/10/2004

T.

Mexico

13/07/2007 a

01/11/2007

D.

A.

Mongolia

07/04/2016 a

01/08/2016

D.

Panama

05/07/1999 a

01/11/1999

D.

A.

Philippines

Tonga

03/07/2000 a

01/11/2000

Trinidad and Tobago

22/03/1994 a

01/07/1994

United States of America

21/03/1983

11/03/1985 

01/07/1985

 

C.

Venezuela

11/06/2003 a

01/10/2003

Total number of signatures not followed by ratifications

0

Total number of ratifications/accessions

66

Notes

(17) Dates of signature and ratification by the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

(54) Date of accession by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.

(4) Since 2013 the decision to invite a non-member State to accede to the treaty is valid five years as from its adoption. See the following Chart.

a: Accession s: Signature without reservation as to ratification su: Succession r: Signature "ad referendum".
R.: Reservations D.: Declarations, Denunciations, Derogations A.: Authorities T.: Territorial Application C.: Communication O.: Objection.

Source : Treaty Office on http://conventions.coe.int - * Disclaimer.



[1] This document has been classified restricted at the date of issue; it will be declassified in accordance with Resolution Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents.