UNMIK/PR/713
SRSG Michael Steiner and authorities of the FRY and Serbia yesterday signed an Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners.
The agreement brings Yugoslavia and Kosovo into conformity with the European Convention on Sentenced Prisoners. That Convention was signed by several European countries in 1983 as a way to increase cooperation in the field of criminal law and to give prisoners the opportunity to serve sentences “within their own society.”
The Agreement signed yesterday in Belgrade is intended to further develop mutual cooperation in the field of the judiciary and takes into account that “such mutual cooperation contributes to justice and the rehabilitation of sentenced persons.”
According to the Agreement, prisoners—either in Kosovo under UNMIK’s custody, or elsewhere in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavi and the Republic of Serbia—may apply to be transferred, but only under the conditions laid out in the Agreement.
There are five key conditions, all of which must be met in order for a transfer to be approved.
First of all, the prisoner in question and both entities—that is UNMIK and authorities in the FRY/Serbia—must agree to the transfer.
Also, the prisoner applying to be transferred must have exhausted all appeals. In other words, the judgment of the courts must have been final.
The sentenced person applying to be transferred must have at least six months of the sentence remaining to be served, or must be serving under an indeterminate sentence.
The acts for which the prisoner has been sentenced must be considered a criminal offence according to the law in both entities,-- i.e. in Kosovo and in the FRY/Serbia.
Particular consideration will be given to sentenced persons born in the entity to which they wish to be transferred, or having immediate family residing there.
