Armenian Cabinet approves signing extradition treaty with China

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Cabinet has approved the ratification of the Agreement on Extradition between Armenia and China.

By the agreement the parties are obliging to extradite wanted persons discovered on their respective territories at the demand of the requesting side with the purpose of criminal prosecution.

The agreement regulates all mechanisms and circumstances for the extradition.

It also envisages the possibility of temporary arrest of the wanted person pending extradition.

The Ministry of Justice has also approved the bill, noting “taking into account the positive effect of the presence of extradition-related bilateral and multilateral treaties for increasing the efficiency of combating crime in the Republic of Armenia, we attach importance to singing the bilateral agreement with the People’s Republic of China especially in this area, because the parties are not a party to any multilateral international treaty together, as well as no bilateral agreement envisaging legal mutual assistance, extradition of convicts and extradition-related legal regulations is signed yet”. It also mentioned risks of possible growth in crimes due to increasing number of citizens’ visits to each other’s countries, “therefore the signing of the bilateral agreement has currently become a pressing issue”.

Parties to the treaty must inform one another through diplomatic notifications on having implemented necessary steps for initiating the treaty.

As of July 18th, 2019, the Chinese side hasn’t issued a notification on having completed domestic procedures regarding the treaty’s initiation, the ministry said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan