STATUS OF BILATERAL PROTOCOLS ON EXTRADITION AND

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 005015

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/PC MAREN BROOKS, L/LEI FOR KEN PROPP; DOJ FOR
OIA/KEN HARRIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC KCRM KJUS PREL EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: STATUS OF BILATERAL PROTOCOLS ON EXTRADITION AND
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE

REF: BRUSSELS 03211


1. The U.S.-EU Agreements on Extradition and Mutual Legal
Assistance were signed at the Summit in Washington on June
25, 2003. Before these agreements can be sent to Congress
for ratification, protocols to existing bilateral extradition
and MLATs must be negotiated. In the limited instances where
there are no existing bilateral treaties on the subject, new
agreements will be necessary to create a bilateral obligation
to bring into force the U.S-EU Agreement. The U.S.-EU
Agreements and the bilateral protocols will then be sent
forward as a package for ratification.


2. The first three sets of bilateral protocols with
Copenhagen, Italy and Ireland were largely completed October
29-30 in Brussels. The next tranche of countries (Austria,
Greece, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and
possibly Belgium) will be addressed the week of November 17.
Negotiations with the balance of the current EU member states
(those considered to be potentially the most difficult) will
be held in January 2004. It is hoped that the protocols with
the ten accession states can also be concluded prior to
submission of the package to Congress. However, if this is
not likely, those protocols can be submitted at a later date.


3. The intent of the bilateral protocols is to formally
incorporate the updated provisions of the new U.S.-EU
Agreements into the existing treaties. Where no extradition
or MLA treaty exists, the U.S.-EU Agreements form the initial
bases for bilateral cooperation. Bilateral treaty articles
not addressed in the U.S.-EU Agreements are unaffected and
continue in force. It is intended that each protocol will
have an annex in which the specific changes to the bilateral
treaties are spelled out. Italy presented draft annexes in
the form of a "consolidated" text; i.e., those bilateral
articles affected by the U.S.-EU Agreements. Articles not
affected by the U.S.-EU Agreement are, however, not
incorporated but remain in effect. USDEL welcomed these
drafts and will urge the adoption of this approach whenever
possible in all future negotiations.


4. There is an unresolved issue with the Irish extradition
protocol. Under Irish law there is an 18-day deadline for
production of extradition request documentation to the Irish
court in order for a suspect who is being held provisionally
to continue under arrest. Without the extradition request
being in the court, the suspect must be released on the 18th
day. The U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement specifies, however,
that documents delivered to the Irish Embassy in Washington
within this deadline meet the requirement. On the contrary,
the Irish delegation thought the necessary documentation had
to be in the hands of the courts by the deadline, not the
Irish Embassy. They agreed to inquire whether certification
by the Ministry of Justice that documentation was received by
the Irish Embassy in Washington meets the deadline
requirements.

SCHNABEL