Updated: Tuesday August 30, 2016/AthThulatha
Thoul Ki'dah 27, 1437/Mangalavara
Bhadra 08, 1938, at 05:03:47 AM
The Transfer of Offenders Ordinance, 2002
ORDINANCE NO. XXXVII OF 2002
[3rd August, 2002]
An Ordinance to provide for transfer of a citizen of
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for transfer of a citizen
of Pakistan convicted of an offence in a foreign country to Pakistan and a
citizen of a foreign country convicted of an offence in Pakistan to that
country and for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto;
AND WHEREAS the President is satisfied that circumstances exist
which render it necessary to take immediate action;
NOW, THERFORE, in pursuance of the Proclamation of Emergency of the
fourteenth day of October, 1999, and the Provisional Constitution Order No. 1
of 1999, read with the Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order No. 9 of
1999, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President
of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate the
following Ordinance:---
1. Short title, extent and
commencement.-(1) This Ordinance may
be called the Transfer of Offenders Ordinance, 2002.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
(3) It extends to the whole of
2. Definitions. In this Ordinance, unless there is anything repugnant
in the subject or context,---
(a) “agreement”
means an agreement entered into between
(b) “appropriate
authority”, in relation to a specified country, means a person or body of
persons in a specified country referred to in the agreement as the
authority responsible for administering the transfer of offenders to, and from,
such country;
(c) “Competent
Authority” means the Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control
(Interior Division) or any other person as the. Competent Authority may, by
notification in official Gazette, authorize to exercise powers and perform
functions, of the Competent Authority under this Ordinance;
(d) “Inspector-General of Prisons” means the person who is
for the time being holding office as the Inspector-General of Prisons in a
Province;
(e) “offender”
means a person who is convicted of an offence whether committed before or after
the commencement of this Ordinance and is for the time being serving a sentence
of imprisonment by virtue of an order made either by any court in Pakistan or
by a court or other institution exercising judicial powers which is empowered
to make such order, in any specified country;
(f) “prescribed”
means prescribed by rules;
(g) “rules”
means rules made under this Ordinance; and
(h) “specified
country” means a country which entered into an agreement for mutual
transfer of offenders with
3. Application of the Ordinance. Where an agreement for mutual transfer of offenders
has been entered into between Pakistan and any specified country, whether
before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, the Competent Authority
shall, by notification in the official Gazette, declare that the provisions of
this Ordinance shall apply in respect of such country.
4. Competent Authority to make an
application requesting the transfer of an offender.-(1) The Competent Authority may make an
application to an appropriate authority in a specified country, requesting the
transfer to that country of any offender who is, or is suspected to be, a
citizen of that country.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained
in sub-section (1), any offender who claims to be a
citizen of a specified country may, through
the concerned Inspector-General of Prisons, make an application to
the Competent Authority to be transferred to the specified country of which he
claims to be a citizen and the Competent Authority may, where considers
it appropriate, make a request on behalf of such offender under sub-section (1)
to the appropriate authority of such specified country.
(3) Every application for a request
under this section shall be made in such form and be accompanied by such
documents as may be prescribed.
(4) Where the Competent Authority makes
an application at the request of an offender, it shall inform such offender in
writing of the action or decision taken both by the Competent Authority and the
appropriate authority of the specified county in relations to his request for a
transfer.
5. Application to
be made by an appropriate authority.-(1)
An application made to the Competent Authority by an appropriate authority of
specified country for the transfer to Pakistan of an offender who claims to be
a citizen of Pakistan shall be entertained if,---
(a) such
application is made in the form prescribed for that purpose; and
(b) a copy
of the order, decision or judgment by which such offender was sentenced to the
term of imprisonment, certified as correct by the appropriate authority of such
specified country, is attached to the application.
(2) Where the Competent Authority, by
order, allows an application made under sub-section (1), the copy of the order,
decision or judgment, as the case may be, attached to an application shall be
proof of the facts stated therein and shall have effect as if it were an order,
decision or judgment, as the case may be, passed by a court of competent
jurisdiction in Pakistan.
6. Condition of transfer. The transfer of any offender on an application made
under this Ordinance shall be subject to the following conditions, namely:---
(a) that the
offender is a citizen of
(b) that the
order, decision or judgment by which the sentence of imprisonment was imposed
on the offender is a final order, decision or judgment;
(c) that at
the time of the application for the transfer is made, the offender concerned
has more than six months left to serve of the term of imprisonment imposed on
him or that the term of imprisonment imposed was for an unspecified period;
(d) that the
offender consents to the transfer or where, in view of his age or physical or
mental status, he is unable to give his consent, the consent shall be given by
such other person who is designated either by the Competent Authority or the
appropriate authority of a specified country as being competent to give consent
on behalf of the offender; and
(e) that
both the Competent Authority and the appropriate authority of the specified
country consent to his transfer.
7. Issue of warrant by the Competent
Authority.-(1) Subject to sub-section
(3), the Competent Authority may, if considers it appropriate issue or cause to
be issued, a warrant authorizing the transfer out of
(2) The warrant to be issued under
sub-section (1) shall be in the prescribed form under the hand of the Competent
Authority.
(3) The Competent Authority shall not
issue a warrant under sub-section (1) unless it is satisfied that all
reasonable steps have been taken to inform the offender being transferred, in
writing, in his own language, or a language he understands, of the effects and
consequences of such transfer in relation to such offender.
(4) The Competent Authority shall on
the date of issuing of a warrant under sub-section (1) cause a copy thereof to
be served on the concerned Inspector-General of Prisons.
(5) A warrant issued under sub-section
(I) shall be deemed to be sufficient authority for the concerned
Inspector-General of Prisons to deliver, or cause the delivery of, such
offender to any person authorized to receive such offender and to keep him in
custody and deliver him to the custody of a person, duly authorized by the
appropriate authority in the specified country, to take the custody of such
offender.
8. No withdrawal of consent after
issue of warrant. On or after the
issue of a warrant under section 7, the consent given under clause (d) of
section 6 by the offender, in respect of whom such warrant was issued, shall be
final and revocable and any purported withdrawal of a consent given after the
issue of a warrant shall not affect the validity of such warrant or any
directions given in relation to such warrant.
9. Inspector-General of Prisons to
have the custody of an offender transferred to Pakistan.-(1) Every offender being transferred to Pakistan from
any specified country, upon an order under section 4 shall be formally handed
over to the Inspector-General of Prisons so nominated by the Competent
Authority and the concerned Inspector-General of Prisons shall have the
authority to keep such offender in custody in any place as may appear to him to
be appropriate for giving effect to the sentence of imprisonment imposed on
such offender in such specified country for the period of the sentence as if it
were a sentence imposed by a court in Pakistan.
(2) The enforcement of the sentence of
imprisonment imposed on any offender who is transferred to
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained
in sub-section (2) the Competent Authority shall, unless otherwise specified in
the agreement, be bound by the legal nature and duration of the sentence of
imprisonment imposed on any offender transferred to
(4) Where the legal
nature and duration of the sentence of imprisonment imposed on any
offender transferred under sub-section (1), is incompatible with any law of
Pakistan, it shall be lawful for a court of competent jurisdiction in Pakistan
to adopt such sentence to make it compatible with laws of Pakistan provided
however that the sentence as adopted by such court in Pakistan
corresponds, as far as practicable, to the sentence imposed on such offender in
the specified country from which such offender was transferred to Pakistan.
10. Effect of any warrant issued by
the Competent Authority. The effect
of a warrant issued by the Competent Authority under section 7 shall be to
authorize,---
(a) the
taking of the offender to any place within Pakistan and his delivery at a place
of departure from Pakistan into the custody of person duly authorized by the
appropriate authority in the specified country to which he is being transferred
to take such custody of the offender; and
(b) the
removal of the offender, by the person into whose custody he was delivered, to
any place outside
11. Removal of an offender in
custody to any other place in Pakistan.—(1)
Any offender committed to custody under section 9 or 10 who escapes from such
custody, may be sent to any place in Pakistan in like manner as a person
escaping from custody under a warrant for his arrest issued in that place in
respect of an offence committed therein.
(2) Where any offender, who is in
custody under section 9 or 10, is required to be removed from the place where
he is held in custody to any other place in Pakistan he shall be deemed to
continue to be in legal custody until he reaches the place to which he is
required to be transferred.
12. Remission and President”s powers
to grant pardon.-(1) An offender who
is transferred to Pakistan in terms of section 9 shall be subject to any
remission of the sentence of imprisonment, imposed on him in the specified
country where he was convicted, to which he may have become entitled to on the
date of his transfer in accordance with the laws relating to remission of a
sentence in force in such specified country.
(2) Nothing in this Ordinance shall be
so construed as to limit or take away the power of the President to grant
pardon or remission of sentence to any offender under Article 45 of the
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or by any other authority
under any law of
13. No appeal or
revision of a sentence of imprisonment imposed upon an offender who is a
citizen of
14. Power to make rules. The Competent Authority may, by notification in the
official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Ordinance.
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