Brazil, Argentina ink new extradition agreement

The deal speeds up procedures and protects extraditees from torture

Published on 17/01/2019 - 16:13 By Marcelo Brandão - Brasília

On Wednesday (Jan. 16), the governments of Brazil and Argentina signed a new extradition agreement that reduces the bureaucracy of procedures, increases the deadline for extradition, and wards off mistreatment against the person being extradited. The previous document was dated 1968.

Under article six of the new deal, “all documents referring to this treaty will be exempt from any  certification and may be provided in advance through any electronic means that produces a written record.”

Justice Minister Sergio Moro highlighted the adaptation of the pact to swifter means of communication. “Communication today is different, one sees the need for making such cooperation mechanisms increasingly fast,” he pointed out.

Longer deadline

The new treaty increases the deadline for the extradition to be carried out by at least 15 days. The 1968 text stipulated that the requesting country had 30 days to pick up extraditees. Now, the measure may take place within 45 days, which may be expanded to another 15 days.

In the previous piece of legislation, no dispositions could be found aiming to prevent the practice of torture of inhumane treatment against extraditees. Under the new rules, the government receiving the extradition request may reject it if there are “founded reasons to believe” the extraditee has been or may be subject to “torture or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment” in the requesting country.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Carolina Pimentel / Nira Foster

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