AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC On The Readmission Of Persons

The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Italian Republic, hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties,

desirous, in a spirit of co—operation and on the basis of reciprocity, of facilitating the readmission of persons entering a country and staying there illegally,

endeavouring to prevent unlawful immigration,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Readmission of own citizens

1. Each Contracting Party shall readmit without any formality its own citizens as well as persons who are presumed to be own citizens. The same shall apply to persons who have been deprived of the nationality of the Contracting Party since entering the territory of the other Contracting Party, without acquiring the nationality of any state.

2. If it turns out that the readmitted person is not a citizen of one of the Contracting Parties and the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of this Agreement cannot be applied to him, the other Contracting Party shall readmit this person again without delay.

Article 2

Readmission of an alien on the basis of an advance notification

1. An alien is a person who is neither Latvian, nor Italian citizen;

2. The Contracting Party shall readmit without any formality an alien who has entered the territory of the other Contracting Party directly from its territory, on the basis of an advance notification by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party, if no more than seventy—two hours have passed since the entry.

2. It is considered that the alien has entered the territory directly from the territory of the other Contracting Party if this can be proved or it may be validly considered to be sufficiently probable.

Article 3

Readmission of an alien on the basis of a request

1. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit an alien who has arrived in the territory of the other Contracting Party directly from the territory of the Contracting Party and the entry or residence of whom does not fulfill the provisions in the legislation of the other Contracting Party. However, this shall not apply if the alien has been granted a residence permit by the other Contracting Party after his entry into the country in question.

2. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit an alien who stays illegally in the territory of the other Contracting Party and who is in possession of a valid residence permit or a visa issued by the Contracting Party, other than a transit visa.

3. The Contracting Party shall, at the request of the other Contracting Party, readmit also a stateless alien who has entered the territory of the other Contracting Party by means of a travel document issued by the Contracting Party, entitling — even after its expiration — the return to the territory of the Contracting Party which issued that document, or who has immediately before his entry into the territory of the other Contracting Party resided in the territory of the Contracting Party and arrived directly from the territory of the Contracting Party after the entry into force of this Agreement.

Article 4

Time limits

1. The Contracting Party shall reply to the readmission request addressed to it without delay and, in any event, at the latest within fifteen days from the presentation of the request. It is possible to make the readmission request by mail, by handing the request directly to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party or through electronic means of communication.

2. The requested Contracting Party shall take charge of persons immediately after the request has been approved and, in any event, at the latest within thirty days from the approval. Upon notification by the requesting Contracting Party this time limit shall be extended by the time necessary for the clearing of legal or practical obstacles.

Article 5

Expiry of the readmission obligation

The readmission request shall be submitted to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party at the latest within one calendar year from the noting of the illegal entry or presence of the said person by the competent authorities of the Contracting Party. Upon notification by the requesting Contracting Party made within the said period of one calendar year this time limit shall be extended by the time necessary for the clearing of legal or practical obstacles.

Article 6

Transit

1. The Contracting Parties shall allow aliens to pass through their territory in transit, if the other Contracting Party so requests. The Contracting Party may require that the representative of the competent authority of the other Contracting Party is present as an escort during the transit through its territory.

2. The requested Contracting Party shall issue free of charge a transit visa to the escorted person and to the escorts in accordance with its national legislation.

3. Notwithstanding any authorization issued, the Contracting Parties shall readmit an alien if his entry into a third state is not admitted or if the onward journey is otherwise impossible.

4. A transit permit may be refused where:

a) in the country of destination or in any countries of transit, the person might be exposed to inhuman treatment, the death penalty, or whose life, physical integrity or freedom may be placed in jeopardy on the grounds of their nationality, religion, race or membership of a particular social or political group

or

b) in the country of destination or in any of the transit countries, the person might be charged with a criminal offence or be required to serve a sentence save where the conviction relates to illegal entry.

Article 7

Costs

1. The transport costs pursuant to Articles 1, 2 and 3 shall be borne by the requesting Contracting Party as far as to the border of the other Contracting Party, subject to the provisions in the national legislation.

2. The costs of the transit in accordance with Article 6 as far as to the border of the state of destination and, where necessary, the costs arising from return transport shall be borne by the requesting Contracting Party.

3. The Contracting Parties shall bear the costs arising from the executive assistance given by their own authorities during the transit through their territory.

Article 8

Providing information

Insofar as information on individual cases has to be provided to the other Contracting Party in order to implement this Agreement, such information may concern only the following:

a) the particulars of the person and, where necessary, of the members of the person's family (surname, given name, any previous names, nicknames or pseudonyms, aliases, date and place of birth, sex, current and any previous nationality / citizenship);

b) passport, identity card or other travel documents (number, date of issue, issuing authority, place of issue, period of validity, territory of validity);

c) other details needed to identify the persons;

d) residence permits and visas issued by the Contracting Parties or by third states, itinerary, stopping places, travel tickets and other possible travel arrangements.

Article 9

Implementing provisions

1. The competent authorities for the implementation of this Agreement are the Ministries of Interior of both Contracting Parties. The same authorities shall exchange their addresses and other information facilitating communication. The Contracting Parties shall also inform each other of changes with respect to these authorities.

2. The competent authorities shall agree on practical arrangements required for the implementation of this Agreement.

3. The competent authorities shall decide on other arrangements required for the implementation of this Agreement, regarding, for example:

— the particulars, supporting documents and evidence required for the transfer and the measures to carry out the transit;

— the determination of the border—crossing points and the arrival times in order to carry out the readmission;

— the conditions for the transport in transit of third—country nationals under escort of the competent authority and

— evidence or grounds on the basis of which it is possible to show or validly assume that the alien is arrived directly from the territory of the Contracting Party to the territory of the other Contracting Party.

Article 10

Relation to other international agreements

Nothing in this Agreement shall affect in any way the rights and obligations of either Contracting Party arising from other international agreements.

Article 11

Any disputes that may arise in relation to the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement shall be settled through diplomatic channels.

Article 12

Final provisions

1. This Agreement shall enter into force thirty days after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other in writing that the necessary constitutional procedures for its entry into force have been completed.

2. Each Contracting Party may temporarily suspend this Agreement on the grounds of the protection of State security, public order or public health, by notifying the other Contracting Party in writing. The suspension shall become effective immediately.

3. This Agreement shall remain in force until further notice. Each Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying the other Contracting Party in writing. The denunciation shall become effective on the thirty—first day after the notification thereof was received by the other Contracting Party.

In witness whereof, the undersigned representatives, duly authorised by their Governments, have signed the present Agreement.

Done at Riga on this 21th day of May 1997 in two original copies, in Latvian, Italian and English language, each being equally authentic. In case of different interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA  Valdis Birkavs Minister of Foreign Affairs

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC Patrizia Troia  Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs

PROTOCOL
To The Agreement Between The Government Of The Republic of Latvia And The Government Of The Italian Republic On The Readmission Of Persons

1. This Protocol is an integral part of the Agreement on the Readmission of Persons.

2. The Republic of Latvia shall readmit without any formality and delay persons, whose status is regulated by the Law of the Republic of Latvia on the Status of the Citizens of the Former USSR who are not Citizens of Latvia or Another Country as well as persons who are presumed as such. The same shall apply to persons who have been deprived of the said status since entering the territory of the Italian Republic, without acquiring the nationality of any state.

3. The persons mentioned in the Paragraph 2 of this Protocol are holders of the following travel documents:

3.1. foreign passports of the former USSR, re-registered according to the appropriate order in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Latvia and containing the Return Guarantee,

3.2. Identification Documents of the Republic of Latvia,

3.3. Alien's Passports of the Republic of Latvia,

3.4. Return Certificates of the Republic of Latvia - only for returning to the Republic of Latvia.

Done at Riga this 21th day of May 1997 in two original copies, in Latvian, Italian and English language, each being equally authentic. In case of different interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA Valdis Birkavs Minister of Foreign Affairs

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC  Patrizia Troia Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs