U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

49–118 

" ! SENATE 109TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

TREATY DOC. 

109–15 

2006

EXTRADITION TREATY WITH LATVIA 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA, 

SIGNED ON DECEMBER 7, 2005, AT RIGA 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006.—Treaty 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 


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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 

THE WHITE HOUSE, September 29, 2006. 

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 Extradition Treaty between 

the United States of America and the Government of the Republic 

of Latvia, signed on December 7, 2005, at Riga. I also transmit, for 

the information of the Senate, the report of the Department of 

State with respect to the treaty. 

The new extradition treaty with Latvia would replace the outdated extradition treaty between the United States and Latvia 

signed on October 16, 1923, at Riga, and the Supplementary Extradition Treaty, signed on October 10, 1934, at Washington. The treaty also fulfills the requirement for a bilateral instrument between 

the United States and each European Union (EU) Member State in 

order to implement the Extradition Agreement between the United 

States and the EU. Two other comprehensive new extradition treaties with EU Member States—Estonia and Malta—likewise also 

serve as the requisite bilateral instruments pursuant to the U.S.- 

EU Agreement, and therefore also are being submitted separately 

and individually. 

The treaty follows generally the form and content of other extradition treaties recently concluded by the United States. It would replace an outmoded list of extraditable offenses with a modern ‘‘dual 

criminality’’ approach, which would enable extradition for such offenses as money laundering and other newer offenses not appearing on the list. The treaty also contains a modernized ‘‘political offense’’ clause. It further provides that extradition shall not be refused based on the nationality of the person sought; in the past, 

Latvia has declined to extradite its nationals to the United States. 

A national who has been convicted in the courts of the other Party 

may request to be allowed to serve the resulting sentence in his 

state of nationality. Finally, the new treaty incorporates a series of 

procedural improvements to streamline and speed the extradition 

process. 

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the treaty. 

GEORGE W. BUSH. 


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LETTER OF SUBMITTAL 

THE SECRETARY OF STATE, Washington, August 3, 2006. 

The PRESIDENT, 

The White House. 

THE PRESIDENT: I have the honor to submit to you the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Latvia, signed on December 7, 2005. Upon its entry into force, 

the Treaty would replace the Extradition Treaty between the 

United States and Latvia, signed on October 16, 1923 and the Supplementary Extradition Treaty signed on October 10, 1934. It also 

fulfills the requirement for a bilateral instrument between the 

United States and each member state of the European Union implementing the Extradition Agreement between the United States 

and the European Union signed on June 25, 2003, which is being 

submitted separately. A detailed, article-by-article analysis is enclosed with this report. I recommend that the Treaty be transmitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. The 

Treaty is self-executing and will not require implementing legislation. 

Respectfully submitted. 

CONDOLEEZZA RICE. 

Enclosures: As stated. 

U.S.-LATVIA EXTRADITION TREATY

OVERVIEW

The U.S.-Latvia Extradition Treaty replaces an outdated 1923 

Treaty and 1934 Supplementary Treaty. It also serves to implement between the United States and Latvia the provisions of the 

U.S.-EU Extradition. Agreement. 

The following is an Article-by-Article description of the provisions 

of the Treaty. 

Article 1 obligates each Party to extradite to the other, pursuant 

to the provisions of the Treaty, persons whom the authorities in the 

Requesting State have charged with, or convicted of, an extraditable offense. 

Article 2 concerns extraditable offenses and is taken from Article 

4 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement. Article 2(1) defines an offense as extraditable if the conduct on which the offense is based 

is punishable under the laws in both States by deprivation of liberty for a period of more than one year or by a more severe penalty. Use of a pure ‘‘dual criminality’’ clause, rather than categories 

of offenses listed in the 1923 Treaty, obviates the need to renegoVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:48 Oct 06, 2006 Jkt 049118 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 7633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\TD015.XXX TD015

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tiate or supplement the Treaty as additional offenses become punishable under the laws in both States. 

Article 2(3) further defines an extraditable offense as an attempt 

or a conspiracy to commit, or participation in the commission of an 

extraditable offense. The Parties intended to include the offenses of 

aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring the commission of an offense, as well as being an accessory to an offense, under the broad 

description of participation. 

Additional flexibility is provided by Article 2(4), which provides 

that an offense shall be an extraditable offense: (a) whether or not 

the laws in the Requesting and Requested States place the offense 

within the same category of offenses or describe the offense by the 

same terminology; (b) whether or not the offense is one for which 

United States federal law requires the showing of such matters as 

interstate transportation, or use of the mails or of other facilities 

affecting interstate or foreign commerce, such matters being jurisdictional only; or (c) in criminal cases relating to taxes, customs duties, currency control or commodities. 

With regard to offenses committed outside the territory of the 

Requesting State, Article 2(5) provides that extradition shall be 

granted in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty if the laws 

in the Requested State provide for the punishment of such conduct 

committed outside its territory in similar circumstances. If the laws 

in the Requested State do not provide for the punishment of such 

conduct committed outside of its territory in similar circumstances, 

the executive authority of the Requested State, in its discretion, 

may grant extradition provided that all other requirements of the 

Treaty are met. 

Article 2(6) provides that if extradition is granted for an extraditable offense, it shall also be granted for any other offense specified in the request if the latter offense is punishable by one year’s 

deprivation of liberty or less, provided that all other requirements 

for extradition are met. 

Article 3 provides that extradition shall not be refused based on 

the nationality of the person sought. A national who has been convicted in the courts of the Requesting State may request to be allowed to serve the resulting sentence in his state of nationality. 

The Requesting State shall make best efforts to honor such a request, pursuant to a prisoner transfer treaty in force between the 

Parties, which, in the case of the United States and the Republic 

of Latvia, is the 1983 Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. In the event that a request pursuant to 

that convention cannot be honored, consultations between the Parties to the Extradition Treaty would take place. 

Article 4 sets forth bases for the denial of extradition. As is customary in extradition treaties, paragraph 1 provides that extradition shall not be granted if the offense for which extradition is 

requested constitutes a political offense. 

Article 4(2) specifies six categories of offenses that shall not be 

considered to be political offenses: (a) a murder or other violent 

crime against a Head of State of one of the Parties, or of a member 

of the Head of State’s family; (b) an offense for which both Parties 

have the obligation pursuant to a multilateral international agreement to extradite the person sought or to submit the case to their 


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competent authorities for decision as to prosecution; (c) murder, 

manslaughter, malicious wounding, or inflicting grievous bodily 

harm; (d) an offense involving kidnapping, abduction, or any form 

of unlawful detention, including the taking of a hostage; (e) placing 

or using an explosive, incendiary, or destructive device capable of 

endangering life, causing substantial bodily harm, or causing grievous property damage; and (f) an attempt or a conspiracy to commit, 

participation in the commission of, aiding or abetting, counseling or 

procuring the commission of, or being an accessory before or after 

the fact to any of the foregoing offenses. 

Article 4(3) provides that extradition shall not be granted if the 

executive authority of the Requested State determines that the request was politically motivated. 

Article 4(4) provides that offenses under military law that are 

not offenses under ordinary criminal law (e.g., desertion) are excluded from the scope of the Treaty. 

Article 5(1) provides that extradition shall not be granted when 

the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested 

State for the offense for which extradition is requested. Article 5(2) 

provides that extradition shall not be precluded, by the fact that 

the competent authorities of the Requested State have decided: (a) 

not to prosecute the person sought for the acts for which extradition is requested; (b) to discontinue any criminal proceedings 

which have been instituted against the person sought for those 

acts; or (c) to investigate the person sought for the same acts. 

Article 6, which is taken from Article 13 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, concerns capital punishment. When an offense 

for which extradition is sought is punishable by death under the 

laws in the Requesting State but not under the laws in the Requested State, the Requested State may grant extradition on the 

condition that the death penalty shall not be imposed on the person 

sought, or if for procedural reasons such condition cannot be complied with by the Requesting State, on condition that the death 

penalty if imposed shall not be carried out. If the Requesting State 

accepts extradition subject to conditions pursuant to this Article, it 

shall comply with the conditions. If the Requesting State does not 

accept the conditions, the request for extradition may be denied. 

Article 7 establishes the procedures and describes the documents 

that are required to support a request for extradition. Paragraph 

1, which is taken from Article 5(1) of the U.S.-EU Extradition 

Agreement, provides that all requests for extradition must be submitted through the diplomatic channel, which shall include transmission through the channel specified in Article 10. Among other 

requirements, Article 7(3) provides that a request for the extradition of a person sought for prosecution must be supported by: (a) 

a copy of the warrant or order of arrest issued by a judge, court, 

or other competent authority; (b) a copy of the charging document; 

and (c) such. information as would provide a reasonable basis to believe that the person sought committed the offense for which extradition is sought. Pursuant to Article 7(4), a request for extradition 

of a person who has been convicted in absentia must be supported 

by the documents required in a request for a person who is sought 

for prosecution. 


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Article 7(5), which is taken from Article 8 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, authorizes the furnishing of additional information, if the Requested State deems it necessary to support an extradition request, and specifies that such information may be requested and supplied directly between the United States Department of Justice and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Latvia. Article 7(6), which is taken from Article 14 of the 

U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, addresses the submission of sensitive information in extradition requests. 

Article 8, which is taken from Article 5 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, concerns admissibility of documents,. It provides 

that documents bearing the certificate or seal of either the Ministry 

of Justice or Foreign Affairs Ministry or Department of the Requesting State shall be admissible in extradition proceedings in the 

Requested State without further certification. 

Article 9 provides that all documents submitted under the Treaty 

by the Requesting State shall be translated into the language of 

the Requested State. 

Article 10 sets forth procedures and describes the information 

that is required for the provisional arrest and detention of the person sought, in an urgent situation, pending presentation of the formal request for extradition. Paragraph 1, which is taken from Article 7 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, sets forth procedures 

for transmission of a request for provisional arrest. Article 10(4) 

provides that if the Requested State’s executive authority has not 

received the request for extradition and supporting documents 

within sixty days from the date of provisional arrest, the person 

may be discharged from custody. Paragraph 4 also provides an alternative channel for receipt of extradition requests with respect to 

persons who have been provisionally arrested, taken from Article 

6 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement. Article 10(5) explicitly 

provides that the discharge of a person from custody pursuant to 

Article 10(4) does not prejudice the person’s subsequent rearrest 

and extradition if the extradition request and supporting documents are delivered at a later date. 

Article 11 specifies the procedures governing a decision on the 

extradition request and the surrender of the person sought. It requires the Requested State to notify promptly the Requesting State 

of its decision regarding a request. If the request is denied in whole 

or in part, the Requested State must provide an explanation for the 

denial and, upon request, copies of pertinent judicial decisions. If 

extradition is granted, the States shall agree on the time and place 

for the surrender of the person sought. If the person sought is not 

removed from the territory of the Requested State within the time 

period prescribed by the law of that State, the person may be discharged from custody, and the Requested State, in its discretion, 

may subsequently refuse extradition for the same offense(s). 

Article 12 addresses temporary and deferred surrender. Paragraph 1, on temporary surrender, is taken from Article 9 of the 

U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement. It provides that if a person whose 

extradition is sought is being proceeded against or is serving a sentence in the Requested State, the Requested State may temporarily 

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dered in custody and shall return that person to the Requested 

State after the conclusion of the proceedings against that person, 

in accordance with conditions to be determined by mutual agreement of the States. Time spent in custody in the Requesting State 

pending prosecution there may be deducted from the time to be 

served in the Requested State. 

Paragraph 2, on deferred surrender, provides that the Requested 

State may postpone the extradition proceedings against a person 

who is being prosecuted or who is serving a sentence in that State. 

Article 13 provides a non-exclusive list of factors to be considered 

by the executive authority of the Requested State in determining 

to which State to surrender a person whose extradition is sought 

by more than one State, and is taken from Article 10 of the U.S.- 

EU Extradition Agreement. It includes, in paragraph 2, language 

establishing the applicability of this analysis to competing requests 

from the United States and from a member state of the European 

Union made to the Republic of Latvia under the European Arrest 

Warrant. 

Article 14 provides that the Requested State may, to the extent 

permitted under its law, seize and surrender to the Requesting 

State all items, including articles, documents, and evidence, that 

are connected with the offense in respect of which extradition is 

granted. Such items may be surrendered even if the extradition 

cannot be carried out due to the death, disappearance, or escape of 

the person sought, and prior to the extradition, if requested pursuant to the mutual legal assistance treaty between the Parties. The 

Requested State may condition the surrender of the items upon 

satisfactory assurances from the Requesting State that the property will be returned to the Requested State as soon as practicable. 

The Requested State may also defer the surrender of such items if 

they are needed as evidence in the Requested State. The rights of 

third parties in such items are to be respected in accordance with 

the laws of the Requested State. 

Article 15 sets forth the rule of speciality under international 

law. Paragraph 1 provides, subject to specific exceptions set forth 

in paragraph 3, that a person extradited under the Treaty may not 

be detained, tried, or punished in the Requesting State except for: 

(a) any offense for which extradition was granted, or a differently 

denominated offense based on the same facts as the offense for 

which extradition was granted, provided such offense is extraditable, or is a lesser included offense; (b) any offense committed 

after the extradition of the person; or (c) any offense for which the 

executive authority of the Requested State waives the rule of speciality and thereby consents to the person’s detention, trial, or punishment. 

Article 15(2) provides that a person extradited under the Treaty 

may not be the subject of onward extradition to a third State or 

an international tribunal for any offense committed prior to the extradition to the Requesting State unless the Requested State consents. 

Under Article 15(3), these restrictions shall not prevent the detention, trial, or punishment of an extradited person, or the extradition of a person to a third State, if the extradited person leaves 

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tarily returns to it or fails to leave the territory of the Requesting 

State within ten days of being free to do so. 

Article 16, which is taken from Article 11 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, permits surrender without further proceedings if 

the person sought consents to be surrendered to the Requesting 

State. The consent of the person sought may include agreement to 

waiver of protection of the rule of speciality. 

Article 17, which is taken from Article 12 of the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement, governs the transit through the territory of one 

State of a person surrendered to the other State by a third country. 

Article 18 contains provisions on representation and expenses. 

Specifically, the Requested State is required to advise, assist, appear in court on behalf of, and represent the interests of the Requesting State in any proceedings arising out of a request for extradition. The Requested State also bears all expenses incurred in 

that State in connection with the extradition proceedings, except 

that the Requesting State pays expenses related to translation of 

extradition documents and the transportation of the person surrendered. Article 18(3) specifies that neither State shall make any pecuniary claim against the other arising out of the arrest, detention, 

examination, or surrender of persons under the Treaty. 

Article 19 provides that the United States Department of Justice 

and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Latvia 

may consult in connection with the processing of individual cases 

and in furtherance of efficient implementation of the Treaty. 

Article 20 makes the Treaty applicable to offenses committed before as well as on or after the date it enters into force. 

Article 21 contains final clauses dealing with the Treaty’s entry 

into force and termination. It provides that the Treaty is subject to 

ratification and that the Treaty shall enter into force upon the exchange of the instruments of ratification. Article 21(3) provides 

that, upon entry into force of the Treaty, the Treaty of Extradition 

between the United States of America and Latvia, signed at Riga 

on October 16, 1923, and the Supplementary Extradition Treaty 

signed at Washington on October 10, 1934, shall cease to have any 

effect. 

Either State may terminate the Treaty with six months written 

notice to the other State through the diplomatic channel. 

The Department of Justice joins the Department of State in favoring approval of this Treaty by the Senate at the earliest possible 

date. 


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