The Prosecutor-General’s Office shall be a body appointed by the Russian Federation to hear extradition cases.
A decision of the competent authorities of the Russian Federation on extradition may be appealed by a person against whom a decision on extradition has been rendered, in the court of law in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation shares the opinions expressed by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in its declaration of February 4, 1991, by the Government of the Republic of Austria—in its declaration of June 4, 1991 and by the Government of the Swiss Confederation—in its declaration of August 21, 1991, concerning the reservation by Portugal of February 12, 1990 to Article 1 of the Convention.
The Portuguese reservation to Article 1 of the Convention is compatible with the objective and purpose of the Convention unless the refusal to extradite a person who has committed the offence punishable by life imprisonment or whom the court has committed to custody as a preventive punishment is absolute. This allows to interpret the above-mentioned reservation in a manner that extradition will not be granted unless the law of the requesting State provides for the possibility to review the case of a person sentenced to life imprisonment who has served a part of his term or has been held in custody for some time, with a view to release him on parole.
The Russian Federation proceeds from the understanding that the provisions of Article 3 of the Convention should be so applied as to ensure inevitable responsibility for offences under the provisions of the Convention.
The Russian Federation proceeds from the understanding that legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide for the notion “political offences”. In all cases when deciding on extradition, the Russian Federation will not consider as “political offences” or “offences connected with political offences” along with offences, specified in Article 1 of the 1975 Additional Protocol to the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, in particular, the following acts:
(a)the crimes against humanity specified in Articles II and III of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973) and in Articles 1 and 4 of Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984);
(b)the crimes specified in Article 85 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (1977), and in Articles 1 and 4 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (1977);
(c)the offences specified in the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (1970), the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation (1971) and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence in Airports Serving International Civil Aviation (1988) supplementary to the above-mentioned 1971 Convention;
(d)the crimes specified in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, Including Diplomatic Agents (1973);
(e)the crimes specified in the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1979);
(f)the offences specified in the Convention for Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (1980);
(g)the offences specified in the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988);
(h)other comparable crimes specified in the multilateral international treaties which the Russian Federation is a party to.
With respect to sub-paragraph a. of paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Convention, the Russian Federation declares that in accordance with Article 61 (part I) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, a citizen of the Russian Federation may not be extradited to another State.
The Russian Federation shall not be liable for claims for property and/or moral damage caused by the temporary arrest of the person in the Russian Federation in accordance with Article 16 of the Convention.
In accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 18 of the Convention, the Russian Federation shall not be liable for claims for property and/or moral damage caused by the delay or cancellation of the surrender of persons to be extradited.
The Russian Federation declares that in accordance with Article 21 of the Convention, transit of an extradited person through the territory of the Russian Federation is allowed subject to the observance of the terms of extradition.
The Russian Federation declares that in accordance with Article 23 of the Convention when producing the documents relating to extradition to the Russian Federation, their authenticated translation into the Russian language is required.
In accordance with Article 1 of the Convention, the Russian Federation shall reserve the right to refuse extradition:
(a)if extradition is requested for the purpose of bringing to responsibility before an ad hoc tribunal or by summary proceedings or for the purposes of carrying out a sentence rendered by an ad hoc tribunal or by summary proceedings when there are grounds for supposing that in the course of these proceedings the person will not be or was not provided with minimum guarantees set forth in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Protocol 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The terms “ad hoc tribunal” and “summary proceedings” do not include any international criminal court with authorities and jurisdiction recognised by the Russian Federation;
(b)if there are grounds for supposing that the person requested for extradition in the requesting State was or will be exposed to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the course of the criminal proceedings, or the person was not or will not be provided with minimum guarantees set forth in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Protocol 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
(c)based on the considerations of humanity, when there are grounds for supposing that the extradition of the person can seriously affect him due to his old age or state of health.
In accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 2 of the Convention, the Russian Federation shall reserve the right not to extradite the persons whose extradition can affect its sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests. Offences that may not lead to extradition shall be stated by the federal law.