PART 1 – PRELIMINARY
1. Purpose
The purposes of this Act are to:
(a) codify the law relating to the extradition of persons from Vanuatu;
(b) facilitate the making of requests for extradition by Vanuatu to other countries;
(c) enable Vanuatu to carry out its obligations under extradition treaties.
2. Interpretation
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
"comity country" means a country other than a Commonwealth country, a South Pacific country or a treaty country;
"Commonwealth country" means a country that is specified in Schedule 1;
"country" includes:
(a) a colony, territory or protectorate of a country; or
(b) a territory for the international relations of which a country is responsible;
or
(c) a ship or aircraft owned by, or registered in, a country;
"endorsed warrant" means a warrant that has been issued in a South Pacific country and endorsed under section 29;
"extradition country" means:
(a) a Commonwealth country; or
(b) a South Pacific country; or
(c) a treaty country; or
(d) a comity country that is declared by the regulations to be an extradition country; or
(e) a comity country certified by the Attorney General to be an extradition country for the purpose of a particular extradition request;
"extradition offence" has the meaning given by section 3(1);
"extradition request" means a request in writing by a country for the surrender of a person to the country;
"extradition treaty", in relation to a country, means a treaty:
(a) to which the country and Vanuatu are parties (whether or not any other country is also a party); and
(b) that relates wholly or partly to the surrender of persons accused or convicted of offences;
"foreign escort officer" means a representative of the country to whom a person is to be surrendered and who is authorised by that country to escort the person from Vanuatu to that country;
"ICPO-Interpol" means the International Criminal Police Organisation;
"magistrate" means a person who is appointed as a magistrate.
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for this Act;
"original warrant" means a warrant issued in a South Pacific country for the arrest of a person;
"police officer" means a member of the Vanuatu Police Force;
"political offence", in relation to a country, means an offence against the law of the country that is of a political character (whether because of the circumstances in which it is committed or otherwise and whether or not there are competing political parties in the country), but does not include:
(a) an offence
(i) that is constituted by conduct of a kind referred to in a multilateral treaty to which Vanuatu is a party; and
(ii) for which parties have an obligation to extradite or prosecute; or
(b) the offence of genocide; or
(c) an offence of:
(i) murder, kidnapping or other attack on the person or liberty; or
(ii) threatening or attempting to commit, or participating as an accomplice in, murder, kidnapping or other attack on the person or liberty;
on the head of a State, head of Government or Minister of the Government of the country or a member of his or her immediate family; or
(d) any other offence that Vanuatu and the other country have agreed will not be treated as a political offence for the purposes of extradition;
"prison" includes a gaol, police cell or other place where a person is ordered under this Act to be detained;
"provisional arrest warrant" means:
(a) where the expression is used in Part 2 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 1 in Schedule 4, issued under section 6.
(b) where the expression is used in Part 4 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 2 in Schedule 4, issued under section 27;
"requesting country" means a country that is seeking the surrender of a person from Vanuatu;
"South Pacific country" means a country:
(a) that is a member of the South Pacific Forum; and
(b) that is specified in Schedule 2;
"specialty undertaking" means an undertaking by a requesting country about the treatment of a person whose surrender is sought by the requesting country;
"surrender warrant" means:
(a) where the expression is used in Part 2 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 3 in Schedule 4, issued under section 17; or
(b) where the expression is used in Part 4 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 5 in Schedule 4, issued under section 34 or 35;
"temporary surrender warrant" means:
(a) where the expression is used in Part 2 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 4 in Schedule 4, issued under section 19; or
(b) where the expression is used in Part 4 – a warrant, in accordance with Form 6 in Schedule 4, issued under section 38;
"treaty" includes a convention, protocol, or agreement between 2 or more countries;
"treaty country" means a country:
(a) with which Vanuatu has an extradition treaty; and
(b) that is specified in Schedule 3;
"writing" includes facsimile, electronic mail and any other means of communication which is able to be reproduced in printed form.
(2) An arrest warrant, a provisional arrest warrant and a surrender warrant must be in the appropriate form in Schedule 4.
3. Extradition offence
(1) An offence is an extradition offence if:
(a) it is an offence against a law of the requesting country for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment, or other deprivation of liberty, for a period of not less than 12 months; and
(b) the conduct that constitutes the offence, if committed in Vanuatu, would constitute an offence in Vanuatu for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment, or other deprivation of liberty, for a period of not less than 12 months.
(2) In determining whether conduct constitutes an offence, regard may be had to only some of the acts and omissions that make up the conduct.
(3) In determining the maximum penalty for an offence for which no statutory penalty is imposed, regard must be had to the level of penalty that can be imposed by any court in the requesting country for the offence.
(4) An offence may be an extradition offence although:
(a) it is an offence against a law of the requesting country relating to taxation, customs duties or other revenue matters or relating to foreign exchange control; and
(b) Vanuatu does not impose a duty, tax, impost or control of that kind.
4. Extradition objection
An extradition objection may be made in writing by any person to a request for the surrender of a person for an extradition offence if:
(a) the extradition offence is regarded as a political offence; or
(b) there are substantial grounds for believing that surrender of the person is sought for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the person because of his or her race, religion, nationality, political opinions, sex, status, or for a political offence in the requesting country; or
(c) on surrender, the person may be prejudiced at his or her trial, or punished, detained or restricted in his or her personal liberty, because of his or her race, religion, nationality, political opinions, sex or status; or
(d) the offence is an offence under the military law, but not also under the ordinary criminal law, of Vanuatu; or
(e) final judgement has been given against the person in Vanuatu, or in a third country, for the offence; or
(f) under the law of the requesting country or Vanuatu, the person has become immune from prosecution or punishment because of lapse of time, amnesty or any other reason; or
(g) the person has already been acquitted or pardoned in the requesting country or Vanuatu, or punished under the law of that country or Vanuatu, for the offence or another offence constituted by the same conduct as the extradition offence; or
(h). the judgment has been given in the person’s absence and there is no provision in the law of the requesting country entitling the person to appear before a court and raise any defence the person may have.
