In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed thereto the seal of their

arms.

Done in duplicate at London, the 17th day of February, in the year of Our Lord 1876.

(L.S.) DERBY.

(L.S.) JOHN MANNERS. (L.S.) SOLVYNS.

TREATY between Great Britain and Belgium, for the Mutual Surrender of Fugitive Criminals.*—Signed at Brussels, May 20, 1876.

[Ratifications exchanged at Brussels, June 28, 1876.]

HER MAJESTY the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the Belgians, having judged it expedient, with a view to the more complete prevention of crime within their respective territories, that persons charged with or convicted of the crimes hereinafter enumerated, and being fugitives from the justice of their country, should, under certain circumstances, be reciprocally delivered up; Their said Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries to conclude a Treaty for this purpose, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. and Ireland, John Savile Lumley, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

And His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the Count d'Aspremont-Lynden, Officer of His Order of Leopold, Commander of the Order of the Ernestine Branch of the House of Saxony, Grand Cross of the Orders of Leopold of Austria, of the Legion of Honour, of the Lion of the Netherlands, and of the White Eagle of Russia, &c., Member of the Senate, His Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

ART. 1. It is agreed that Her Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King of the Belgians shall, on requisition made in their

*Signed also in the French language.

name by their respective Diplomatic Agents, deliver up to each other reciprocally any persons, except as regards Great Britain, native born and naturalized subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, and, except as regards Belgium, those who are by birth or who may have become citizens of Belgium, who, being accused or convicted as principals or accessories, of any of the crimes hereinafter specified, committed within the territories of the requiring party, shall be found within the territories of the other party :

1. Murder (including assassination, parricide, infauticide, and poisoning), or attempt to murder.

2. Manslaughter.

3. Counterfeiting or altering money, or uttering counterfeit or altered money.

4. Forgery, counterfeiting, or altering or uttering what is forged or counterfeited or altered.

5. Embezzlement or larceny.

6. Obtaining money or goods by false pretences.

7. Crimes by bankrupts against bankruptcy law.

8. Fraud by a bailee, banker, agent, factor, trustee, or director, or member or public officer of any company, made criminal by any law for the time being in force.

9. Rape: Carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 10 years; carnal knowledge of a girl above the age of 10 years and under the age of 12 years; indecent assault upon any female or any attempt to have carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 years of age.

10. Abduction.

11. Child stealing.

12. Kidnapping.

13. Burglary or housebreaking.

14. Arson.

15. Robbery with violence (including intimidation).

16. Threats by letter or otherwise with intent to extort.

17. Piracy by law of nations.

18. Sinking or destroying a vessel at sea, or attempting or conspiring to do so.

19. Assaults on board ship on the high seas with intent to destroy life or to do grievous bodily harm.

20. Revolt or conspiracy to revolt by two or more persons on board a ship on the high seas against the authority of the master. 21. Perjury and subornation of perjury.

22. Malicious injury to property, if the offence be indictable. 23. Aggravated or indecent assault.

Provided that the surrender shall be made only when, in the case of a person accused, the commission of the crime shall be so established as that the laws of the country where the fugitive or person

accused shall be found would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crime had been there committed; and in the case of a person alleged to have been convicted, on such evidence as, according to the laws of the country where he is found, would prove that he has been convicted.

In no case can the surrender be made unless the crime shall be punishable according to the laws in force in both countries with regard to extradition.

II. In the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty, other than the Colonies or foreign Possessions of Her Majesty, the manner of proceeding shall be as follows:

1. In the case of a person accused—

The requisition for the surrender shall be made to Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the Minister or other Diplomatic Agent of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, accompanied by a warrant of arrest or other equivalent judicial document, issued by a Judge or Magistrate duly authorized to take cognizance of the acts charged against the accused in Belgium, together with duly authenticated depositions or statements taken on oath or upon solemn affirmation before such Judge or Magistrate, clearly setting forth the said acts, and containing a description of the person claimed, and any particulars which may serve to identify him. The said Secretary of State shall transmit such documents to Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, who shall then, by order under his hand and seal, signify to some Police Magistrate in London that such requisition has been made, and require him, if there be due cause, to issue his warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive.

On the receipt of such order from the Secretary of State, and on the production of such evidence as would, in the opinion of the Magistrate, justify the issue of the warrant if the crime had been committed in the United Kingdom, he shall issue his warrant accordingly.

When the fugitive shall have been apprehended he shall be brought before the Police Magistrate who issued the warrant, or some other Police Magistrate in London. If the evidence to be then produced shall be such as to justify, according to the law of England, the committal for trial of the prisoner, if the crime of which he is accused has been committed in England, the Police Magistrate shall commit him to prison to await the warrant of the Secretary of State for his surrender, sending immediately to the Secretary of State a certificate of the committal, and a report upon the case.

After the expiration of a period from the committal of the prisoner, which shall never be less than 15 days, the Secretary of State shall, by order under his hand and seal, order the fugitive

criminal to be surrendered to such person as may be duly authorized to receive him on the part of the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians.

2. In the case of a person convicted

The course of proceeding shall be the same as in the case of a person accused, except that the warrant to be transmitted by the Minister or other Diplomatic Agent in support of his requisition shall clearly set forth the crime of which the person claimed has been convicted, and state the fact, place, and date of his conviction. The evidence to be produced before the Police Magistrate shall be such as would, according to the law of England, prove that the prisoner was convicted of the crime charged.

After the Police Magistrate shall have committed the accused or convicted person to prison to await the order of a Secretary of State for his surrender, such person shall have the right to apply for a writ of habeas corpus; if he should so apply, his surrender must be deferred until after the decision of the Court upon the return to the writ, and even then can only take place if the decision is adverse to the applicant.

III. In the dominions of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, other than the Colonies or foreigu Possessions of His said Majesty, the manner of proceeding shall be as follows:-

1. In the case of a person accused

The requisition for the surrender shall be made to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the King of the Belgians by the Minister or other Diplomatic Agent of Her Britannic Majesty, accompanied by a warrant of arrest or other equivalent judicial document issued by a Judge or Magistrate duly authorized to take cognizance of the acts charged against the accused in Great Britain, together with duly authenticated depositions or statements taken on oath or upon solemn affirmation before such Judge or Magistrate, clearly setting forth the said acts and containing a description of the person claimed, and any other particulars which may serve to identify him.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs shall transmit the warrant of arrest, with the documents thereto annexed, to the Minister of Justice, who shall forward the same to the proper judicial authority, in order that the warrant of arrest may be put in course of execution by the Chamber of the Council (Chambre du Conseil) of the Court of First Instance of the place of residence of the accused, or of the place where he may be found.

The foreigner may claim to be provisionally set at liberty in any case in which a Belgian enjoys that right, and under the same conditions. The application shall be submitted to the Chamber of the Council (Chambre du Conseil).

The Government will take the opinion of the Chamber of Indictments or Investigation (Chambre des Mises en Accusation) of the Court of Appeal within whose jurisdiction the foreigner shall have been arrested.

The hearing of the case shall be public, unless the foreigner should demand that it should be with closed doors.

The public authorities and the foreigner shall be heard. The latter may obtain the assistance of counsel.

Within a fortnight from the receipt of the documents, they shall be returned, with a reasoned opinion, to the Minister of Justice, who shall decide and may order that the accused be delivered to the person duly authorized on the part of the Government of Her Britannic Majesty.

2. In case of a person convicted—

The course of proceeding shall be the same as in the case of a person accused, except that the conviction or sentence of condemnation issued in original or in an authenticated copy, to be transmitted by the Minister or other Diplomatic Agent in support of his requisition, shall clearly set forth the crime of which the person claimed has been convicted, and state the fact, place, and date of his conviction. The evidence to be produced shall be such as would, according to the Belgian laws, prove that the prisoner was convicted of the crime charged.

IV. A fugitive criminal may, however, be apprehended under a warrant issued by any Police Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, or other competent authority in either country, on such information or complaint, and such evidence, or after such proceedings as would, in the opinion of the person issuing the warrant, justify the issue of a warrant if the crime had been committed or the prisoner convicted in that part of the dominions of the two Contracting Parties in which he exercises jurisdiction: Provided, however, that, in the United Kingdom, the accused shall, in such case, be sent as speedily as possible before a Police Magistrate in London. He shall be discharged, as well in the United Kingdom as in Belgium, if within 14 days a requisition shall not have been made for his surrender by the Diplomatic Agent of his country, in the mauner directed by Articles II and III of this Treaty.

The same rule shall apply to the cases of persons accused or convicted of any of the crimes specified in this Treaty, committed on the high seas on board any vessel of either country which may come into a port of the other.

V. If the fugitive criminal who has been committed to prison be not surrendered and conveyed away within two months after such committal (or within two months after the decision of the Court upon the return to a writ of habeas corpus in the United Kingdom),