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. |
|
19/05/1998 |
04/04/2000 |
01/08/2000 |
||||||||
04/11/1999 |
13/07/2000 |
01/11/2000 |
||||||||
11/05/2001 a |
01/09/2001 |
|||||||||
21/03/1983 |
09/09/1986 |
01/01/1987 |
||||||||
25/01/2001 |
25/01/2001 |
01/05/2001 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
06/08/1990 |
01/12/1990 |
||||||||
30/04/2004 |
15/04/2005 |
01/08/2005 |
||||||||
30/09/1993 |
17/06/1994 |
01/10/1994 |
||||||||
25/01/1995 a |
01/05/1995 |
|||||||||
27/02/1984 |
18/04/1986 |
01/08/1986 |
||||||||
13/02/1992 |
15/04/1992 |
01/01/1993 |
17 |
|||||||
21/03/1983 |
16/01/1987 |
01/05/1987 |
||||||||
04/11/1993 |
28/04/1997 |
01/08/1997 |
||||||||
29/01/1987 a |
01/05/1987 |
|||||||||
27/04/1983 |
11/02/1985 |
01/07/1985 |
||||||||
21/10/1997 a |
01/02/1998 |
|||||||||
21/03/1983 |
31/10/1991 |
01/02/1992 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
17/12/1987 |
01/04/1988 |
||||||||
19/11/1991 |
13/07/1993 |
01/11/1993 |
||||||||
19/09/1989 |
06/08/1993 |
01/12/1993 |
||||||||
20/08/1986 |
31/07/1995 |
01/11/1995 |
||||||||
20/03/1984 |
30/06/1989 |
01/10/1989 |
||||||||
30/10/1996 |
02/05/1997 |
01/09/1997 |
||||||||
03/05/1983 |
14/01/1998 |
01/05/1998 |
||||||||
25/01/1995 |
24/05/1996 |
01/09/1996 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
09/10/1987 |
01/02/1988 |
||||||||
04/11/1988 |
26/03/1991 |
01/07/1991 |
||||||||
11/04/2002 a |
06/06/2006 |
54 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
30/09/1987 |
01/01/1988 |
||||||||
08/03/1985 |
09/12/1992 |
01/04/1993 |
||||||||
22/11/1993 |
08/11/1994 |
01/03/1995 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
28/06/1993 |
01/10/1993 |
||||||||
06/05/1997 |
12/05/2004 |
01/09/2004 |
||||||||
30/06/1995 |
23/08/1996 |
01/12/1996 |
||||||||
07/04/2005 |
28/08/2007 |
01/12/2007 |
||||||||
17/03/2004 |
25/06/2004 |
01/10/2004 |
||||||||
11/04/2002 a |
01/08/2002 |
54 |
||||||||
Slovak Republic |
13/02/1992 |
15/04/1992 |
01/01/1993 |
17 |
||||||
14/05/1993 |
16/09/1993 |
01/01/1994 |
||||||||
10/06/1983 |
11/03/1985 |
01/07/1985 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
09/01/1985 |
01/07/1985 |
||||||||
21/03/1983 |
15/01/1988 |
01/05/1988 |
||||||||
28/07/1999 |
28/07/1999 |
01/11/1999 |
||||||||
19/06/1985 |
03/09/1987 |
01/01/1988 |
||||||||
28/09/1995 a |
01/01/1996 |
|||||||||
25/08/1983 |
30/04/1985 |
01/08/1985 |
Non-members of the Council of Europe
Signature |
Ratification |
Entry into Force |
Notes |
R. |
D. |
A. |
T. |
C. |
O. |
|
05/09/2002 a |
01/01/2003 |
|||||||||
12/11/1991 a |
01/03/1992 |
|||||||||
02/03/2004 a |
01/06/2004 |
|||||||||
Brazil |
4 |
|||||||||
21/03/1983 |
13/05/1985 |
01/09/1985 |
||||||||
30/07/1998 a |
01/11/1998 |
|||||||||
14/04/1998 a |
01/08/1998 |
|||||||||
12/07/2005 a |
01/11/2005 |
|||||||||
4 |
||||||||||
09/03/2009 a |
01/07/2009 |
|||||||||
16/01/2018 a |
01/05/2018 |
|||||||||
24/09/1997 a |
01/01/1998 |
|||||||||
17/02/2003 a |
01/06/2003 |
|||||||||
20/07/2005 a |
01/11/2005 |
|||||||||
18/06/2004 a |
01/10/2004 |
|||||||||
13/07/2007 a |
01/11/2007 |
|||||||||
07/04/2016 a |
01/08/2016 |
|||||||||
05/07/1999 a |
01/11/1999 |
|||||||||
03/07/2000 a |
01/11/2000 |
|||||||||
22/03/1994 a |
01/07/1994 |
|||||||||
21/03/1983 |
11/03/1985 |
01/07/1985 |
||||||||
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.