Anneke van Dijk, Deputy Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands, has signed today, in the presence of the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Tanja Gonggrijp, the Fourth Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Extradition.  

The convention was opened to signature in 1957 and entered into force in 1960. All member states of the Council of Europe are parties to the convention. It provides for the extradition between states parties of the convention of persons wanted for criminal proceedings or for the carrying out of a sentence. Over time, as new realities have emerged, the Convention has been amended and updated through four additional protocols in 1975, 1978, 2010 and 2012, reflecting the evolving needs of international cooperation on extradition.  

The Fourth Protocol amends and supplements the provisions of the European Convention on Extradition concerning such issues as requests and supporting documents, the rule of speciality, transit, re-extradition to a third State, and channels and means of communication.  

The Netherlands has joined the European Convention on Extradition in 1969 and has ratified the first three additional protocols. The signature of the Fourth Protocol by the Netherlands today marks a further step towards modernising its cooperation with other states parties in criminal matters and its commitment to rendering extradition procedures across Europe more efficient.