U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

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59–118

" ! SENATE 105TH CONGRESS

2d Session

TREATY DOC.

1998

105–46

PROTOCOL TO EXTRADITION TREATY

WITH MEXICO

MESSAGE

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

TRANSMITTING

PROTOCOL TO THE EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNITED MEXICAN STATES OF

MAY 4, 1978, SIGNED AT WASHINGTON ON NOVEMBER 13, 1997

MAY 21, 1998.—Protocol was read the first time, and together with the

accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate

(III)

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

THE WHITE HOUSE, May 21, 1998.

To the Senate of the United States:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to

ratification, I transmit herewith the Protocol to the Extradition

Treaty Between the United States of America and the United Mexican States of May 4, 1978, signed at Washington on November 13,

1997.

In addition, I transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to the Protocol. As the

report explains, the Protocol will not require implementing legislation.

This Protocol will, upon entry into force, enhance cooperation between the law enforcement communities of both countries. The Protocol incorporates into the 1978 Extradition Treaty with Mexico a

provision on temporary surrender of persons that is a standard provision in more recent U.S. bilateral extradition treaties.

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Protocol and give its advice and consent to ratification.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON.

(V)

LETTER OF SUBMITTAL

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 7, 1998.

The PRESIDENT,

The White House.

THE PRESIDENT: I have the honor to submit to you the Protocol

to the Extradition Treaty Between the United States of America

and the United Mexican States of May 4, 1978 (‘‘the Protocol’’),

signed at Washington on November 13, 1997. I recommend that the

Protocol be transmitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to

ratification.

The Protocol represents the fulfillment of a pledge made in the

Declaration of the Mexican/U.S. Alliance Against Drugs, signed at

Mexico City on May 6, 1997, to ‘‘ensure that fugitives are expeditiously and with due legal process brought to justice and are unable to evade justice in one country by fleeing to or remaining in

the other.’’

The Protocol incorporates into the 1978 Extradition Treaty with

Mexico (the ‘‘1978 Treaty’’) a provision on temporary surrender of

persons which has become a standard provision in more recent

United States bilateral extradition treaties. Temporary surrender

can be an important tool for use in cases where serious crimes have

been committed in one country which might go unpunished if trial

in that country were to be delayed for a long period while a sentence was being served for different crimes committed in the other

country. It thus enables sequential trials of individuals who have

committed extraditable offenses in both countries at a time when

witnesses and evidence to both crimes are readily available.

Article 1(1) of the Protocol amends the title of Article 15 of the

1978 Treaty to include reference to temporary surrender. Article

1(2) sets out the new text to be added to Article 15 regarding temporary surrender, which will form new paragraphs (2) and (3) of

that Article.

New Article 15(2) provides that a Party which has granted an extradition request (the ‘‘Requested Party’’) made by the other Party

(the ‘‘Requesting Party’’) in accordance with the Treaty, with respect to a person who already has been convicted and sentenced in

the Requested Party, may temporarily surrender the person to the

Requesting Party before or during service of sentence for the

crimes committed in the Requested Party. It further provides that

the person so surrendered shall be kept in custody in the Requesting Party, and shall be returned to the Requested Party after conclusion of the proceedings in the Requesting Party, in accordance

with conditions to be determined by agreement of the Parties.
VI

It is anticipated that extradition authorities in both countries,

which in some cases will include state-level authorities, would consult in order to develop the case-specific agreement necessary to effect a temporary transfer. Such agreements would address arrangements for transferring custody of, and for returning, the prisoner,

as well as authorizing further consultations on any extraordinary

circumstances which may arise. By establishing a treaty-based

legal framework for case-specific agreements, it should now prove

possible for state-level authorities to offer the necessary assurances

of custody and return, without which past efforts to effect temporary surrenders with Mexico have been frustrated. Consistent

with our normal extradition practice any case-specific agreements

or assurances would be concluded by the federal authorities on behalf of the state authorities.

New Article 15(3) addresses one possible outcome of a temporary

surrender—a finding at trial in the Requesting Party that the person surrendered is not guilty of the offenses charged. In that circumstance, the Protocol provides that the period of time spent in

custody in the Requesting Party shall be credited towards completion of the sentence remaining to be served in the Requested Party

which originally surrendered the person. This provision is intended

to ensure that the person receives credit somewhere for time in

custody even when the general sentencing practice of the Requested Party would not normally recognize time served in another

jurisdiction.

Article 2 addresses the relationship between the Protocol and

other international instruments with Mexico. Paragraph (1) provides that the Protocol forms an integral part of the 1978 Treaty,

and that accordingly its interpretation is governed by the principles

contained in the Treaty, such as the rule of specialty. Paragraph

(2) clarifies that the requirements of the 1976 Treaty on the Execution of Penal Sentences (the ‘‘Prisoner Transfer Treaty’’), which

generally governs prisoner transfers, does not apply to a temporary

surrender under this Protocol.

Unlike prisoner transfer, a temporary surrender does not relocate a prisoner for purposes of serving a sentence, but only for purposes of trial, after which he or she is to be returned to serve sentences imposed in the respective Parties. At the same time, the

Protocol does not preclude the subsequent operation of the Prisoner

Transfer Treaty with respect to a person who has been temporarily

surrendered, tried, and convicted.

Article 2(3) provides that the Protocol is subject to ratification,

and enters into force on the date of exchange of instruments of ratification. It terminates upon termination of the Extradition Treaty.

The Protocol does not require implementing legislation.

A Technical Analysis explaining in detail the provisions of the

Protocol is being prepared by the United States negotiating delegation and will be submitted separately to the Senate Committee on

Foreign Relations.

The Department of Justice joins the Department of State in favoring approval of this Protocol by the Senate at an early date.

Respectfully submitted,

STROBE TALBOT.
(1)
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