SC approves rules on extradition proceedings

The Supreme Court (SC) has approved the Rules on Extradition Proceedings to ensure consistency and provide guidance for courts in handling extradition cases involving individuals facing criminal investigation or penalties under the laws of another state.

Approved unanimously by the 15-member SC, the rules will take effect on 10 November.

In a 16-page resolution made public yesterday, the high court said the new rules align with its constitutional mandate to “promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice, and procedure in courts, the admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the underprivileged.”

The rules cover all proceedings related to extradition, including applications for warrants of arrest or hold departure orders—whether provisional or precautionary—and applications for bail.

The SC stated that an offense is subject to extradition if it is punishable under both Philippine law and the requesting state’s law by imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty.

If the request for extradition involves a person serving a sentence, extradition shall only be granted if the remaining sentence is at least six months.

The rules further provide that the Secretary of Justice, or designated State Counsels of the Office of the Chief State Counsel, shall have sole authority to act on all requests for extradition and provisional arrest.

The SC emphasized that extradition proceedings are sui generis (of their own kind) and summary in nature.

“They do not involve the adjudication of the guilt or innocence of the extraditee,” the Rules stated.

The court clarified that the purpose of extradition proceedings is “to determine whether the request, as expressed in the petition and supported by its annexes and any evidence presented during the hearing, complies with the law and the applicable Extradition Treaty, and whether the person sought is extraditable.”

Under the law, an extradition treaty refers to a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and a requesting state—or a multilateral agreement to which both are parties—containing provisions governing extradition.

The rules also provide that an extraditee arrested pursuant to a warrant of provisional or extradition arrest shall be detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) detention facility in the city or province where the issuing court is located.

The SC said extradition proceedings shall be conducted in open court, unless the extraditee or petitioner requests a closed session due to national security concerns, privileged information, or if the case involves a minor.

Courts are also required to ensure that witnesses are fully examined in one day and to issue a ruling within 30 days from the presentation of the last witness.

The Rules further state that extradition may be postponed if the extraditee must face criminal prosecution or serve a sentence in the Philippines for an offense other than the one for which extradition is requested.

However, the court may allow the temporary surrender of the extraditee. The Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary may file a motion before the court handling the local case to request the temporary surrender of the extraditee to the requesting state, subject to conditions the court deems proper.