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.