Capítulo X. De la extradicion

For the purposes of this law, with respect to extradition, whether active or passive, the following rules are established:

a)Prevalence of international treaties or conventions. Where there are international extradition treaties or agreements, it shall be requested and granted through diplomatic channels in accordance with the procedure established in said treaties or conventions; and in the absence thereof, or in what is not regulated therein, in accordance with the provisions of this article.

b)In the absence of treaties or conventions, action shall be taken in accordance with the principle of reciprocity and international usages and customs.

c)Extradition shall operate whenever the requesting country grants equal treatment to the Republic of Guatemala in similar cases.

d)Evidence produced abroad shall be assessed in accordance with the evaluative norms of the country that produced it, provided that such matters are demonstrated through the procedures determined by the Law of the Judicial Branch, in matters of proof of foreign laws being in force, and that the country producing the same maintains reciprocity in the same sense with the Republic of Guatemala.

e)When a foreign country requests the extradition of an accused person who is in Guatemala, the Supreme Court of Justice shall evaluate the request, and if it finds it in accordance with law, it shall designate the judge who must process it, who shall necessarily be one of the judges of first instance for sentencing of the department of Guatemala. The processing shall be by way of incidents and the substantive decision issued shall be subject to consultation with the higher jurisdictional tribunal. In any case, said decision shall be appealable.

f)If a person is claimed by more than one state at the same time, preference shall be given to the extradition request of the state in whose territory the most severely sanctioned crime was committed; and where there are two or more crimes of apparent equal gravity, to that of the one that claimed it first; if an accused person is requested for the same criminal act by several states, extradition shall be granted to the country where the crime was committed.

g)When extradition has been declared admissible, and the requesting state does not take custody of the claimed person within thirty days after having been placed at its disposal, such person shall be placed in immediate liberty on the day following expiration of the indicated term, and the extradition of the accused person for the same criminal act may not be requested again.

h)Once the ruling is final, the case file shall be communicated to the Executive Branch through the Presidency of the Judicial Branch; if extradition is denied therein, the Executive may not grant it; if, on the contrary, it is decided that surrender of the claimed person is appropriate, the Executive has the power to adhere or not to what was decided by the tribunals of justice. In any case, the proceedings and other records shall be returned to the tribunal of origin, to be archived or, as appropriate, for the proceedings to continue in Guatemala.

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i)If extradition is denied, because the tribunals of justice so decided or because the Executive so ordered, Guatemala remains under the obligation to prosecute the non-extradited person, and further to deliver to the requesting state a certified copy of the judgment.

This article shall apply to the crimes defined in this law.

The State of Guatemala may surrender the person claimed to the requesting party without a formal extradition procedure, provided that the person claimed consents to such surrender before a competent judicial authority.