826
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 42

ARTICLE VI.

A fugitive criminal shall not be surrendered if the offence in respect of which his surrender is demanded is one of a political character, or if he prove that the requisition for his surrender has in fact been made with a view to try or punish him for an offence of a political character.

ARTICLE VII.

A person surrendered can in no case be kept in prison or be brought to trial in the State to which the surrender has been made for any other crime or on account of any other matters than those for which the extradition shall have taken place, until he has been restored or had an opportunity of returning to the State by which he has been surrendered.

This stipulation does not apply to crimes committed after the extradition.

ARTICLE VIII.

The requisition for extradition shall be made in the following manner:—

Application on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty’s Government for the surrender of a fugitive criminal in Liberia shall be made by Her Majesty’s Consul at Monrovia.

Application on behalf of the Liberian Government for the surrender of a fugitive criminal in the United Kingdom shall be made by the diplomatic representative of Liberia in London, or, in the absence of such representative, by the Consul-General for Liberia in London.

The requisition for the extradition of the accused person must be accompanied by a warrant of arrest issued by the competent authority of the State requiring the extradition, and by such evidence as, according to the laws of the place where the accused is found, would justify his arrest if the crime had been committed there.

If the requisition relates to a person already convicted, it must be accompanied by the sentence of condemnation passed against the convicted person by the competent Court of the State that makes the requisition for extradition.

A sentence passed in contumaciam is not to be deemed a conviction, but a person so sentenced may be dealt with as an accused person.

ARTICLE IX.

If the requisition for extradition be in accordance with the foregoing stipulations, the competent authorities of the State applied to shall proceed to the arrest of the fugitive.

ARTICLE X.

If the fugitive has been arrested in the British dominions he shall forthwith be brought before a competent Magistrate, who is to examine him and to conduct the preliminary investigation of the case, just as if the apprehension had taken place for a crime committed in the British dominions.

In the examinations which they have to make in accordance with the foregoing stipulations, the authorities of the British dominions shall admit as valid evidence the sworn depositions or the affirmations of witnesses taken in Liberia, or copies thereof, and likewise the warrants and sentences issued therein, and certificates of, or judicial documents stating the fact of, a conviction, provided the same are authenticated as follows:—

1. A warrant must purport to be signed by a Judge, Magistrate, or officer of Liberia.

2. Depositions or affirmations, or the copies thereof, must purport to be certified, under the hand of a Judge, Magistrate, or officer of Liberia, to be the original depositions or affirmations, or to be the true copies thereof, as the case may require.

3. A certificate of or judicial document stating the fact of a conviction must purport to be certified by a Judge, Magistrate, or officer of Liberia.

4. In every case such warrant, deposition, affirmation, copy, certificate, or judicial document must be authenticated either by the oath of some witness or by being sealed with the official seal of the Minister of Justice or some other Minister of Liberia; but any other mode of authentication for the time being permitted by the law in that part of the British dominions where the examination is taken may be substituted for the foregoing.

ARTICLE XI.

If the fugitive has been arrested in Liberia his surrender shall be granted if, upon examination by a competent authority, it appears that the documents furnished by the British Government contain sufficient prima facie evidence to justify the extradition.

The authorities of Liberia shall admit as valid evidence records drawn up by the British authorities of the depositions of witnesses, or copies thereof, and records of conviction or other judicial documents, or copies thereof, provided that the said documents be signed or authenticated by an authority whose competence shall be certified by the seal of a Minister of State of Her Britannic Majesty.

ARTICLE XII.

The extradition shall not take place unless the evidence be found sufficient, according to the laws of the State applied to, either to justify the committal of the prisoner for trial, in case the crime has been committed in the territory of the said State, or to prove that the prisoner is the identical person convicted by the Courts of the State which makes the requisition, and that the crime of which he has been convicted is one in respect of which extradition could, at the time of such conviction, have been granted by the State applied to. The fugitive criminal shall not be surrendered until the expiration of fifteen days from the date of his being committed to prison to await his surrender.

ARTICLE XIII.

If the individual claimed by one of the two high contracting parties in pursuance of the present treaty should be also claimed by one or several other Powers, on account of other crimes or offences committed upon their respective territories, his extradition shall be granted to that State whose demand is earliest in date.

ARTICLE XIV.

If sufficient evidence for the extradition be not produced within three months from the date of the apprehension of the fugitive, or within such further time as the State applied to, or the proper tribunal thereof, shall direct, the fugitive shall be set at liberty.

ARTICLE XV.

All articles seized which were in the possession of the person to be surrendered at the time of his apprehension, shall, if the competent authority of the State applied to for the extradition has ordered the delivery thereof, be given up when the extradition takes place, and the said delivery shall extend not merely to the stolen articles, but to everything that may serve as a proof of the crime.

ARTICLE XVI.

All expenses connected with extradition shall be borne by the demanding State.

ARTICLE XVII.

The stipulations of the present treaty shall be applicable to the colonies and foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, so far as the laws for the time being in force in such colonies and foreign possessions respectively will allow.

The requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of such colonies or foreign possessions may be made to the Governor or chief authority of such colony or possession by any person authorised to act in such colony or possession as a consular officer of Liberia, or, if there is no such consular officer in the colony, by the diplomatic representative of Liberia in London, or in his absence by the Liberian Consul-General.

Such requisitions may be disposed of, subject always, as nearly as may be, and so far as the law of such colony or foreign possession will allow, to the provisions of this treaty, by the said Governor or chief authority, who, however, shall be at liberty either to grant the surrender or to refer the matter to his Government.

Her Britannic Majesty shall, however, be at liberty to make special arrangements in the British colonies and foreign possessions for the surrender of criminals from Liberia who may take refuge within such colonies and foreign possessions, on the basis, as nearly as may be, and so far as the law of such colony or foreign possession will allow, of the provisions of the present treaty.

Requisitions for the surrender of a fugitive criminal emanating from any colony or foreign possession of Her Britannic Majesty shall be governed by the rules laid down in the preceding articles of the present treaty.

ARTICLE XVIII.

The present treaty shall come into force ten days after its publication, in conformity with the forms prescribed by the laws of the high contracting parties. It may be terminated by either of the high contracting parties at any time on giving to the other six months’ notice of its intention to do so.

The treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.

Done at London, the sixteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two.

(L.S.) ROSEBERY.
(L.S.) H. HAYMAN.