The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) Order 1997

Made: 22nd July 1997

Laid before Parliament: 1st August 1997

Coming into force: 1st September 1997

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 22nd day of July 1997 Present, The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by sections 4(1), 22(3) and 37(3) and (6) of the Extradition Act 1989, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

1

This Order may be cited as the Extradition (Taking of Hostages) Order 1997, and shall come into force on 1st September 1997.

2

• (1) Schedule 2 to this Order specifies in the first column foreign States which are Parties to the Convention and with which extradition treaties (and relevant Orders in Council under section 2 of the Extradition Act 1870) are for the time being in force, in the second column the dates of those treaties, and in the third column those Orders in Council; and

• (2) Schedule 1 to the Extradition Act 1989[^f00004] shall apply in the case of a State specified in the first column in accordance with the extradition treaty whose date is specified in the corresponding entry in the second column, as supplemented by paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 10 of the Convention; and the Order in Council which gives effect to that extradition treaty shall be construed accordingly.

3

The Extradition Act 1989, so far as it relates to extradition procedures under Part III of that Act, shall apply in the case of a State specified in Part I of Schedule 3 to this Order (being States in respect of which the Convention is into force but in relation to which no extradition treaties are in force) subject to the limitations, restrictions, exceptions and qualifications contained in Part II of that Schedule.

4

The following Orders are hereby revoked—

• The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) Order 1985[^f00005];

• The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) Order (Amendment) 1985[^f00006];

• The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) (Amendment) Order 1986[^f00007]

• The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) (Amendment) Order 1987[^f00008].

• The Extradition (Taking of Hostages) (Amendment) Order 1988[^f00009].

5

This Order extends only to the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and to those territories which are specified in Schedule 4 to this Order.

SCHEDULE 1 — THE CONVENTION

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION AGAINST THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES

The States Parties to this Convention,

Having in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations concerning the maintenance of international peace and security and the promotion of friendly relations and co-operation among States,

Recognizing in particular that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

Reaffirming the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as well as in other relevant resolutions of the General Assembly,

Considering that the taking of hostages is an offence of grave concern to the international community and that, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, any person committing an act of hostage taking shall either be prosecuted or extradited,

Being convinced that it is urgently necessary to develop international co-operation between States in devising and adopting effective measures for the prevention, prosecution and punishment of all acts of taking hostages as manifestations of international terrorism,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

1

Any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure or to continue to detain another person (hereinafter referred to as the “hostage”) in order to compel a third party, namely, a State, an international governmental organisation, a natural or juridical person, or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage commits the offence of taking of hostages (“hostage-taking”) within the meaning of this Convention.

2

Any person who:

• (a) attempts to commit an act of hostage-taking, or

• (b) participates as an accomplice of anyone who commits or attempts to commit an act of hostage-taking

likewise commits an offence for the purposes of this Convention.

Article 2

Each State Party shall make the offences set forth in Article 1 punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of those offences.

Article 3

Article 4

States Parties shall co-operate in the prevention of the offences set forth in article 1, particularly by:

• (a) taking all practicable measures to prevent preparations in their respective territories for the commission of those offences within or outside their territories, including measures to prohibit in their territories illegal activities of persons, groups and organisations that encourage, instigate, organise or engage in the perpetration of acts of taking hostages;

• (b) exchanging information and co-ordinating the taking of administrative and other measures as appropriate to prevent the commission of those offences.

Article 5

3

This Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exercised in accordance with internal law.

Article 6

4

The rights referred to in paragraph 3 of this article shall be exercised in conformity with the laws and regulations of the State in the territory of which the alleged offender is present subject to the proviso, however, that the said laws and regulations must enable full effect to be given to the purposes for which the rights accorded under paragraph 3 of this article are intended.

5

The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of this article shall be without prejudice to the right of any State Party having a claim to jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph 1(b) of Article 5 to invite the International Committee of the Red Cross to communicate with and visit the alleged offender.

6

The State which makes the preliminary inquiry contemplated in paragraph 1 of this article shall promptly report its findings to the States or organization referred to in paragraph 2 of this article and indicate whether it intends to exercise jurisdiction.

Article 7

The State Party where the alleged offender is prosecuted shall in accordance with its laws communicate the final outcome of the proceedings to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall transmit the information to the other States concerned and the international intergovernmental organizations concerned.

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

In so far as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 for the protection of war victims or the Additional Protocols to those Conventions are applicable to a particular act of hostage-taking, and in so far as States Parties to this Convention are bound under those conventions to prosecute or hand over the hostage-taker, the present Convention shall not apply to an act of hostage-taking committed in the course of armed conflicts as defined in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Protocols thereto, including armed conflicts mentioned in Article 1, paragraph 4, of Additional Protocol I of 1977, in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law conerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 13

This Convention shall not apply where the offence is committed within a single State, the hostage and the alleged offender are nationals of that State and the alleged offender is found in the territory of that State.

Article 14

Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as justifying the violation of the territorial integrity or political independence of a State in contravention of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 15

The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the application of the Treaties on Asylum, in force at the date of the adoption of this Convention, as between the States which are parties to those Treaties, but a State Party to this Convention may not invoke those Treaties with respect to another State Party to this Convention which is not a party to those Treaties.

Article 16

Article 17

Article 18

Article 19

Article 20

The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall send certified copies thereof to all States.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention, opened for signature at New York on 18 December 1979.

SCHEDULE 2 — FOREIGN STATES WHICH ARE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION AND IN RELATION TO WHICH ORDERS IN COUNCIL UNDER SECTION 2 OF THE EXTRADITION ACT 1870 ARE IN FORCE

SCHEDULE 3

PART I — FOREIGN STATES WHICH ARE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION AND WITH WHICH NO EXTRADITION TREATIES ARE IN FORCE

PART II — APPLICATION OF THE EXTRADITION ACT 1989 IN THE CASE OF A STATE MENTIONED IN PART I

1

The Extradition Act 1989[^f00010] shall have effect in relation to a State specified in Part I of this Schedule only in respect of—

• (a) an offence mentioned in section 22(4)(e) of the Extradition Act 1989;

• (b) an attempt to commit such an offence;

• (c) counselling, procuring, commanding, aiding or abetting such an offence;

• (d) being an accessory before or after the fact to such an offence.

2

No proceeding shall be taken on an application for a provisional warrant to be issued under section 8(1)(b) of the 1989 Act, and no such warrant shall be issued, unless the application is made with the consent of the Secretary of State signified by an Order in the form set out in Part III of this Schedule or in a form to the like effect; but except as aforesaid the signification of consent shall not affect the provisions of the said section 8.

PART III

FORM OF CONSENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE TO APPLICATION FOR A PROVISIONAL WARRANT

SCHEDULE 4 — TERRITORIES TO WHICH THIS ORDER EXTENDS

• Anguilla

• Bermuda

• British Antarctic Territory

• British Indian Ocean Territory

• British Virgin Islands

• Cayman Islands

• Falkland Islands and Dependencies

• Gibraltar

• Montserrat

• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands

• St Helena and Dependencies

• Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia

• Turks and Caicos Islands

Signed

N. H. Nicholls — Clerk of the Privy Council

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order applies the Extradition Act 1989 (c. 33) so as to make extraditable offences under section 1 of the Taking of Hostages Act 1982 (c. 28) (hostage-taking), attempts to commit such offences and participation in the commission of such offences. It applies to certain States, Parties to the Convention against the Taking of Hostages, signed at New York on 18th December 1979.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: Cmnd. 7893.

[^f00002]: 1870 c. 52. The Act was repealed by the Extradition Act 1989 with the savings mentioned in section 37 of that Act.

[^f00003]: 1989 c. 33.

[^f00004]: 1989 c. 33.

[^f00005]: S.I. 1985/751.

[^f00006]: S.I. 1985/1992.

[^f00007]: S.I. 1986/2015.

[^f00008]: S.I. 1987/2044.

[^f00009]: S.I. 1988/2246.

[^f00010]: 1989 c. 33.