II SÉRIE-A — NÚMERO 105 8

Article 20 – Exclusion of the political exception clause

1 None of the offences referred to in Articles 5 to 7 and 9 of this Convention, shall be regarded, for the

purposes of extradition or mutual legal assistance, as a political offence, an offence connected with a political

offence, or as an offence inspired by political motives. Accordingly, a request for extradition or for mutual legal

assistance based on such an offence may not be refused on the sole ground that it concerns a political offence

or an offence connected with a political offence or an offence inspired by political motives.

2 Without prejudice to the application of Articles 19 to 23 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

of 23 May 1969 to the other Articles of this Convention, any State or the European Community may, at the time

of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession of the

Convention, declare that it reserves the right to not apply paragraph 1 of this Article as far as extradition in respect

of an offence set forth in this Convention is concerned. The Party undertakes to apply this reservation on a case-

by-case basis, through a duly reasoned decision.

3 Any Party may wholly or partly withdraw a reservation it has made in accordance with paragraph 2 by

means of a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe which shall become effective

as from the date of its receipt.

4 A Party which has made a reservation in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article may not claim the

application of paragraph 1 of this Article by any other Party; it may, however, if its reservation is partial or

conditional, claim the application of this article in so far as it has itself accepted it.

5 The reservation shall be valid for a period of three years from the day of the entry into force of this

Convention in respect of the Party concerned. However, such reservation may be renewed for periods of the

same duration.

6 Twelve months before the date of expiry of the reservation, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

shall give notice of that expiry to the Party concerned. No later than three months before expiry, the Party shall

notify the Secretary General of the Council of Europe that it is upholding, amending or withdrawing its reservation.

Where a Party notifies the Secretary General of the Council of Europe that it is upholding its reservation, it shall

provide an explanation of the grounds justifying its continuance. In the absence of notification by the Party

concerned, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall inform that Party that its reservation is

considered to have been extended automatically for a period of six months. Failure by the Party concerned to

notify its intention to uphold or modify its reservation before the expiry of that period shall cause the reservation

to lapse.

7 Where a Party does not extradite a person in application of this reservation, after receiving an extradition

request from another Party, it shall submit the case, without exception whatsoever and without undue delay, to

its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution, unless the requesting Party and the requested Party

agree otherwise. The competent authorities, for the purpose of prosecution in the requested Party, shall take

their decision in the same manner as in the case of any offence of a grave nature under the law of that Party.

The requested Party shall communicate, without undue delay, the final outcome of the proceedings to the

requesting Party and to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who shall forward it to the Consultation

of the Parties provided for in Article 30.

8 The decision to refuse the extradition request on the basis of this reservation shall be forwarded promptly

to the requesting Party. If within a reasonable time no judicial decision on the merits has been taken in the

requested Party according to paragraph 7, the requesting Party may communicate this fact to the Secretary

General of the Council of Europe, who shall submit the matter to the Consultation of the Parties provided for in

Article 30. This Consultation shall consider the matter and issue an opinion on the conformity of the refusal with

the Convention and shall submit it to the Committee of Ministers for the purpose of issuing a declaration thereon.

When performing its functions under this paragraph, the Committee of Ministers shall meet in its composition

restricted to the States Parties.

Article 21 – Discrimination clause

1 Nothing in this Convention shall be interpreted as imposing an obligation to extradite or to afford mutual

legal assistance, if the requested Party has substantial grounds for believing that the request for extradition for

offences set forth in Articles 5 to 7 and 9 or for mutual legal assistance with respect to such offences has been

made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of that person’s race, religion, nationality,