FRANCE

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE ON THE TRANSFER OF SENTENCED PERSONS

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

CONSIDERING THAT:

The Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of France relating to the Transfer of Sentenced Persons was signed at Washington on January 25, 1983, the text of which is hereto annexed;

The Senate of the United States of America by its resolution of June 28, 1984, two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein, gave its advice and consent to ratification of the Convention;

The Convention was ratified by the President of the United States of America on July 17, 1984 in pursuance of the advice and consent of the Senate, and was ratified on the part of the Republic of France;

Each of the Contracting States notified the other Contracting State in writing, through diplomatic channels, of the completion of the constitutional procedures required to bring the Convention into force, and accordingly the Convention entered into force on February 1, 1985, as specified in Article 21;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, proclaim and make public the Convention to the end that it be observed and fulfilled with good faith on and after February 1, 1985, by the United States of America and by the citizens of the United States of America and all other persons subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have signed this proclamation and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the city of Washington this fourth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred eighty-five and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred tenth.

Ronald Reagan
[SEAL]

By the President:

George P. Shultz
Secretary of State

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE ON
THE TRANSFER OF SENTENCED PERSONS

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of France,

Desiring to enable persons under sentence, with their consent, to serve their sentences of deprivation of liberty in the country of which they are nationals in such a way as to facilitate their reintegration into society,

Have resolved to conclude the present Convention.

CHAPTER I

BASIC PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 1

For the purposes of this Convention:

(a) the expression "Sentencing State" means the State in which the offender has been sentenced and from which he is being transferred;
(b) the expression "Administering State" means the State to which the sentenced person is being transferred to serve his sentence;
(c) the term "sentenced person" means any person who has been sentenced by a court of law in the territory of either State and required to serve, in confinement, a sentence involving deprivation of liberty.

ARTICLE 2

The application of this Convention is subject to the following conditions:

(a) the offense which leads to a request for transfer would be punishable as a crime under the law of both States;
(b) the sentenced person is a national of the country to which he is to be transferred;
(c) the sentenced person gives his consent;
(d) the sentence referred to in Article 1 is a final and enforceable one; and
(e) at the time of the request for transfer the sentenced person has left to serve a period of at least one year.

ARTICLE 3

This Convention shall not apply when the offense for which the offender has been sentenced is a purely military offense.

ARTICLE 4

The transfer of a sentenced person shall be refused:

(a) if the sentence leading to the request is based on facts that have formed the object of a final judgment in the Administering State;
(b) if enforcement of the sentence is barred by limitation under the law of either State.

ARTICLE 5

The transfer may be refused:

(a) if the transfer is considered by the Sentencing State or the Administering State to be such as to jeopardize its sovereignty, its security, its public policy, the basic principles relating to the organization of criminal jurisdiction under its legal system or any other of its essential interests;
(b) if the competent authorities of the Administering State have decided to abandon, or not to initiate, proceedings based on the same facts;
(c) if the facts upon which the conviction is based are also the object of proceedings in the Administering State;
(d) if the sentenced person has not paid any sums, fines, court costs, damages or any other pecuniary penalties imposed upon him by the judgment.

ARTICLE 6

1. The Sentencing State shall inform the Administering State without delay of any decision or action taken in its territory which terminates the right of enforcement.

2. The competent authorities of the Administering State shall terminate administration upon being informed of any decision or action as a result of which the sentence ceases to be enforceable.

ARTICLE 7

The Sentencing State has the sole right to decide on any action for review of the conviction or sentence.

ARTICLE 8

The Sentencing State shall inform sentenced persons of the possibilities open to them under this Convention.

CHAPTER II

ADMINISTRATION OF SENTENCES INVOLVING DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY

ARTICLE 9

1. The sentence imposed by the Sentencing State shall be directly enforceable in the Administering State.
2. The enforcement of the sentence in the Administering State shall be in accordance with the law of that state.
3. If need be under the law, the Administering State may substitute for the penalty imposed by the Sentencing State the penalty or measure provided by its own law for a similar offense. The nature of this penalty or measure shall correspond insofar as possible to that imposed in the sentence to be enforced. The sentence may not aggravate by its nature or duration the penalty imposed by the Sentencing State nor exceed the maximum prescribed by the law of the Administering State.
4. The Administering State alone is competent to take with respect to the sentenced person decisions on the manner of the execution of the sentence, including decisions on the length of the period of incarceration. However, it shall take account of any information furnished by the Sentencing State pursuant to Article 13 of this Convention.

ARTICLE 10

The costs of transfer and detention subsequent to transfer are the responsibility of the Administering State.

CHAPTER III

PROCEDURE

ARTICLE 11

A transfer request may be submitted by:
(a) the person under sentence himself, who submits a request to this effect to one of the States;
(b) the Sentencing State; or
(c) the Administering State.

ARTICLE 12

1. Every request shall be in writing. It shall indicate the identity of the sentenced person and his address in both the Sentencing State and the Administering State.
2. The request shall be completed prior to transfer by a statement taken by a consul of the Administering State acknowledging that the sentenced person's consent was given voluntarily and with full knowledge of the consequences of the transfer.

ARTICLE 13

1. The Sentencing State shall send the Administering State the original or a certified copy of the judgment convicting the offender. It shall certify the enforceability of the judgment, and it shall make as clear as possible the circumstances of the offense, the time and place it was committed and its designation in law.
2. The Sentencing State shall provide full information about the length of the sentence remaining to be served, about the periods spent in pre-trial and post-trial custody, as well as remissions of sentence granted or earned.

ARTICLE 14

The request shall be addressed to the French Ministry of Justice, if the requesting State is the United States of America, and to the Department of Justice of the United States of America if the requesting State is France.

ARTICLE 15

If one of the States deems the information provided by the other to be insufficient to allow it to implement this Convention, it shall request the supplementary information required for this purpose.

ARTICLE 16

Either State shall furnish to the other State upon request at any time a complete report on the status of the execution of the penalty of the sentenced person transferred under this Convention.

ARTICLE 17

All documents produced by either State in accordance with this Convention may be in English or in French.

ARTICLE 18

Documents transmitted by one Contracting State to the other in connection with the application of this Convention shall require no further certification, authentication or other legalization to be admissible in any proceeding relating to the application of the Convention in the State receiving such documents.

ARTICLE 19

Costs of administration incurred in the Administering State shall not be reimbursed.

ARTICLE 20

1. Both States shall cooperate in facilitating the transit through their territory of sentenced persons transferred from a third state.
2. The transit shall be subject to the conditions established for transfer by Articles 2(a), (b), (d) and (e), 3 and 4 of this Convention. Its duration shall not exceed 24 hours. The State which intends to carry out such a transit shall give advance notice to the other State together with all necessary information. No notice shall be required if transport is by air over the territory of the other State and no landing there is scheduled.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 21

1. Each of the Contracting Parties shall notify the other upon the completion of the constitutional procedures required to allow this Convention to come into force. Notification of the completion of these procedures shall be exchanged as soon as possible at Paris.
2. This Convention shall come into force on the first day of the second month after the day such exchange is effected.
3. Each of the Contracting Parties may terminate this Convention at any time by sending the other, through diplomatic channels, written notice of termination. In this case, termination shall take effect one year after the date the said notice is received.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention and hereunto affixed their seals.

DONE in duplicate at Washington in the English and French languages, both equally authentic, this twenty-fifth day of January, 1983.

(Signature)

William French Smith

(Signature)

Robert Badinter


Convention signed at Washington January 25, 1983;
Transmitted by the President of the United States of America to the Senate
March 1, 1984 (Treaty Doc. No. 98-15, 98th Cong., 2d Sess.);
Reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations June 20, 1984
(S. Ex. Rept. No. 98-28, 98th Cong., 2d Sess.);
Advice and consent to ratification by the Senate June 28, 1984;
Ratified by the President July 17, 1984;
Ratified by France December 23, 1983;
Notifications exchanged at Paris January 31 and December 5, 1984;
Proclaimed by the President November 4, 1985;
Entered into force February 1, 1985.

T.I.A.S. No. 10,823, 35 U.S.T. 2847