The Sultanate of Oman joined the International Criminal Police Organization "the INTERPOL" in 1972. The INTERPOL Muscat is responsible for implementing the requirements of the Extradition Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 4/2000, which defines the cases in which detention is permissible and the cases in which the extradition request is not responded to. The law regulates the mechanism for submitting requests for the arrest and deportation of wanted criminals to the requesting country.
Types of requests that are submitted to the INTERPOL
The state member submits an electronic request to the INTERPOL in respect of a certain person. The requests that the member can submit are diverse, including:
– Request for the arrest of a wanted person;
– Collection of additional information about the identity of these persons;
– Warning in respect of the persons who have committed criminal offenses and are likely to commit similar offenses in other countries;
– Request to help locate missing persons, particularly minors, and other requests
Notices usually contain two types of information. The first type is the identity details, which include physical descriptions, pictures, occupation and spoken languages. The second one is the judicial information about the accusation against the person, the law applicable to the crime or under which he was convicted, and the actual or potential maximum penalty.
The Red Notice issued by the INTERPOL
The Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily detain an offender pending extradition or taking a specific legal action. The INTERPOL issues the Red Notice upon the request of a country member against fugitive offenders wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence issued against them by the requesting country.
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is the official body responsible for investigation and inspection procedures and the arrest of wanted persons, while the Public Prosecution is in charge of interrogation and preventive detention of wanted persons, preventing them from traveling or releasing them according to the circumstances of the case.
Cases in which criminals may be extradited
The court is competent to hear extradition requests and the documents to be submitted for criminals' extradition:
Muscat Criminal Court of Appeal shall hear extradition requests. Article 11 of the Law No. 4/2000 requires the submission of the following documents after being officially certified and sealed by the competent judicial authority in the requesting country:
– A detailed statement of the identity and description of the requested person and attaching everything that helps to accurately identify his identity and his photo, if possible.
– An order of arrest or summons issued by a competent authority if the person has not been convicted and a copy of the judgment if the person has been convicted, whether or not the judgment has the force of the res judicata.
– A copy of the legal texts punishing the act and the evidence that proves the responsibility of the wanted person.
– An undertaking from the country requesting extradition that it will not prosecute, prosecute, or punish the person requested for extradition for any crime prior to extradition other than the crime or crimes that were the subject of the extradition request.
– An undertaking from the country requesting extradition not to extradite the person to a third country except after the Sultanate's approval for that.
– An undertaking from the requesting country to give a fair and impartial trial to the person whose extradition is requested, and to provide him with guarantees of self-defense.
The Criminal Court of Appeal may reject the extradition request in any of the following circumstances:
– The documents mentioned above are not presented.
– The legal conditions are not met, or
– The evidence in the extradition request or the investigations is not sufficient to prove the crime attributed to the person requested to be extradited.
Right to object to the extradition request
The person to be arrested may object for three reasons:
1) if the legal requirements for the extradition order are not met.
2) if his/her case falls within the cases where extradition is not allowed according to Article no 3 of the Criminals Extradition Law.
3) if the requesting country does not present the documents referred to in Article 11 of the same Law or if they are not completed for two months from the date of arrest.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
