Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Hungary, on the Readmission of Persons

 

The Government of the Republic of Hungary and the Government of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties)

LED BY THE DESIRE to mutually facilitate the readmission and transportation of persons illegally staying in the territories of their respective states;

agreed as follows:

Chapter I

DEFINITIONS

Article 1

In this Agreement the following terms shall have the following meaning:

(1) Third country national — a person who possesses the nationality of neither of the States of the Contracting Parties;

(2) Stateless person — a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law;

(3) Visa — a valid permission issued by the competent authorities of the States of the Contracting Parties, authorizing a person to enter and stay in the territory of that State for a period and purpose, and in accordance with the conditions specified therein;

(4) Residence permit — a valid permission issued by the competent authorities of the States of the Contracting Parties, authorizing a person to stay in the territory of that State and for multiple entry and exit. The residence permit does not mean a visa or a possibility to stay in the territory of the States of the Contracting Parties during the processing of an application for asylum or residence permit or during an expulsion procedure.

 

Chapter II

READMISSION OF THE NATIONALS

OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

Article 2

(1) The Contracting Parties shall, without any particular formalities apart from those stipulated herein, readmit the persons, who do not or no longer meet the conditions for entry to or staying in the territory of the requesting Contracting Party, provided that it is ascertained or presumed on good grounds that the person is a national of the State of the requested Contracting Party.

(2) If nationality cannot be established beyond doubt, the requested Contracting Party — whose national is presumed to be involved — shall clarify the issue either through its diplomatic or consular representation without delay but within four (4) workdays at the latest.

(3) The provisions of Section (1) of this Article shall be applied also in the case of a person

(a) who is in possession of a permission to stay in the territory of the State of the requested Contracting Party for a period longer than a year or permanently or a valid travel document issued by the competent authorities of the State of the requested Contracting Party;

(b) who has been deprived of his nationality after he had entered the territory of the State of the requesting Contracting Party without having obtained the nationality of any other State or at least an assurance of naturalization from the requesting Contracting Party.

(4) The requesting Contracting Party shall readmit the person if it is ascertained at a later date that the person concerned did not have the nationality of the requested Contracting Party at the time he was admitted.

 

Chapter III

READMISSION OF THIRD COUNTRY

NATIONALS / STATELESS PERSONS

Article 3

(1) Upon request by the other Contracting Party, the Contracting Parties shall readmit persons who are third country nationals or stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as third country nationals), if they entered the territory of the State of the requesting Contracting Party illegally provided it is ascertained that the person concerned arrived directly from the territory of the State of the requested Contracting Party.

(2) The provisions of Section (1) of this Article shall not apply if the third country national has been granted a residence permit by the other Contracting Party after his entry to the territory of its State.

(3) The Contracting Parties shall, upon request of the other Contracting Party, readmit a third country national who stays illegally in the territory of the other Contracting Party and who possesses a valid residence permit or a visa issued by the requested Contracting Party.

(4) The Contracting Party shall, upon request of the other Contracting Party, readmit a stateless person who has entered the territory of the other Contracting Party by means of a travel document issued by the requested Contracting Party, entitling him to return to the territory of the State of the Contracting Party that issued that document.

Article 4

(1) The requesting Contracting Party shall request readmission of a third country national by way of an application for readmission. The requested Contracting Party shall readmit the third country national pursuant to a readmission statement.

(2) Under the provisions of Article 3 and 5, no obligation for readmission exists with respect to persons who are:

(a) third country nationals whose readmission was not requested by the competent authorities within 9 months from their illegal entry;

(b) third country nationals who, when entering the territory of the State of the requesting Contracting Party, held the valid visa or other valid permission to stay issued by the requesting Contracting Party;

(c) third country nationals, who left the territory of the State of the requested Contracting Party and entered the territory of the State of the requesting Contracting Party from the territory of a third State to which the requesting Contracting Party can return the third country nationals on the basis of an international agreement;

(d) nationals of a third country with which the State of the requesting Contracting Party has common borders;

(e) third country nationals whose refugee status has been acknowledged by the requesting Contracting Party on the basis of the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967 or his stateless status pursuant to the provisions of the New York convention of 28 September 1954;

(f) third country nationals who have submitted an application for refugee status in the state of the requesting Contracting Party, concerning which a final decision has not yet been made.

Article 5

(1) The Contracting Parties shall, without any particular formalities and after advance notification, readmit the third country nationals who illegally entered the territory of the state of the Contracting Party directly from territory of the other Contracting Party provided that readmission is requested within 4 (four) days from illegal entry.

(2) When these conditions do not obtain, readmission may be requested pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of this Agreement.

Article 6

(1) The requesting Contracting Party shall readmit third country nationals without any particular formalities if the requested Contracting Party establishes within 30 (thirty) days from readmission that the conditions stipulated in Articles 3 and 5 hereof did not obtain at the time of readmission.

(2) Persons shall be readmitted exclusively at the border crossing points designated by the Contracting Parties.

(3) The Contracting Parties shall do everything in their power to return third country nationals directly to their countries of origin.

 

Chapter IV

DEADLINES

Article 7

(1) The requested Contracting Party shall respond to the request for readmission immediately but not later than seven (7) workdays.

(2) Following the response of the requested Contracting Party, readmission shall take place immediately, but within four (4) days in the case of persons according to Article 2 hereof, and immediately but within twenty (20) days in the case of third country nationals according to Articles 3 and 5 hereof.

(3) This time limit may be extended upon request of the Contracting Parties in case of legal or factual hindrances related to readmission, but only until such hindrances are eliminated.

 

Chapter V

TRANSIT OF THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS

Article 8

(1) Upon a request of a Contracting Party, the other Contracting Party shall enable the transit of third country nationals without any particular formalities either by air under police escort, who are subjects to expulsion procedures in the requesting Contracting Party with the objective of being readmitted by a third country and whose readmission and transportation across additional transit states to the state of destination is guaranteed. In such a case no visa shall be required from the other Contracting Party.

(2) A transit request shall not be submitted or it may be rejected when it can be presumed on good grounds that the third country national:

(a) is threatened by the death penalty or may be subject to torture, inhuman or humiliating treatment or persecution on grounds such as race, religion, nationality, belonging to a social group or political affiliation in the State of destination or any transit country; and

(b) is threatened by prosecution on a criminal offense or the enforcement of a penalty either in the State of destination or in any transit country, with the exception of forbidden border crossing.

(3) The transit request shall be submitted by the competent authorities directly to one another. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall directly agree on the time and mode of transit.

(4) Transit by air, accompanied by the police, can only be provided without leaving the transit lounge of the airport of the requested Contracting Party.

(5) The requested Contracting Party may require that the representative of the competent authority of the State of the requesting Contracting Party be present as an escort during transit through its territory.

(6) The requesting Contacting Party shall provide all the valid documents required for the purposes of the travel, valid travel documents, other necessary permits and valid tickets required for traveling to the state of destination and through the territories of the transit states, and the declaration of admission of the state of destination.

(7) If the request is rejected by the requested Contracting Party because the necessary conditions are met, the requesting Contracting Party shall be informed about the grounds for the rejection.

(8) Third country nationals may be returned to the requesting Contracting Party if facts are discovered or circumstances set in which frustrate transit under police escort. Once such reasons are stated, the requesting Contracting Party shall be obliged to readmit the persons earlier admitted for transit under official escort.

 

 

Chapter VI

COSTS

Article 9

(1) All costs arising in relation to the transportation of persons readmitted under Chapters II and III hereof up to the state border of the requested Contracting Party and the costs of an eventual readmission shall be born by the requesting Contracting Party.

(2) All costs that may arise from or in relation to the transit and eventual return of third country nationals under police escort, regulated under Chapter V hereof, shall be borne by the requesting Contracting Party.

 

Chapter VII

DATA PROTECTION

Article 10

 

In the event of personal data being transferred in connection with the implementation of this Agreement, such information shall contain the following only:

(a) upon request, the personal identification data of the person to be readmitted/transited and, when necessary, of his family members (surname, forename, previous name, if any, alias or nickname, date and place of birth, gender, previous and current nationality),

(b) data indicated in the identity card or passport (number, validity, date and place of issue of the document, issuing authority, etc.)

(c) other data required for the identification of the person to be readmitted/transited or for examining whether the conditions of admissions are met,

(d) places of stay and route.

Article 11

(1) Personal data transferred shall be used by the Contracting Parties exclusively for purposes stipulated in this Agreement and only in accordance with the conditions stated by the Contracting Party transferring such data.

(2) Upon request by the transferring Party, the receiving Party shall provide information about the use of the personal data transferred and the results achieved.

(3) Personal data shall be transferred only to the authorities competent for the implementation of this Agreement. Disclosure of any data to any other authority shall be subject to the prior written consent of the Contacting Party transferring such data.

(4) The transferring Contracting Party shall be responsible for the completeness and correctness of the data transferred. If it is established that erroneous data or data that should not have been transmitted have also been handed over, the receiving Party shall be notified immediately, and it shall take prompt action to rectify the erroneous data or to delete the data, which should not have been transferred.

(5) Whenever enabled by the provisions of the laws of the States of the Contracting Parties, information shall, upon his request, be provided to the transferred person concerning the data managed in relation to his person. The person concerned may request the rectification of deletion of his data when it is ascertained that erroneous data, or data that should not have been transferred, have been transferred.

(6) The Contracting Parties guarantee the possibility of recourse to the courts for the persons concerned when their personal data have been used not for the purpose and not in the way specified in this Agreement or not by the competent authorities.

(7) Upon the transfer of the data, the transferring Contracting Party shall state the due dates for the deletion of the data as specified in the legislation of its State. Notwithstanding the above, data received shall be deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary.

(8) The Contracting Parties shall maintain records about the transfer, receipt and deletion of personal data.

(9) The Contracting Parties shall provide effective protection for the transferred personal data against unauthorized access, alteration and disclosure.

 

CHAPTER VIII

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT

Article 12

The implementation of the present Agreement shall be regulated by the Ministries of the Interior of the Contracting Parties in a Protocol on Implementation, which shall specify in particular:

(a) the documents on the basis of which nationality can be established or presumed;

(b) the competent authorities taking action and the mode of mutually providing information;

(c) the procedure to be followed in the course of implementation, and the data and documents required for readmission, transit and the establishment of nationality;

(d) the mode of substantiating illegal entry;

(e) the mode and procedure of bearing costs as stipulated in Chapter VI of the Agreement;

(f) the border crossing points designated for the readmission of persons.

Article 13

(1) The provisions of this Agreement shall not apply in the case of legal aid concerning extradition between the States of the Contracting Parties.

(2) This Agreement shall not affect the acknowledged rights of the nationals of the Contracting Parties, the provisions of existing international agreements between the Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Latvia and the obligations of the two States assumed under other international agreements.

(3) The present Agreement shall not affect the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 8 July 1951 on the status of refugees as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967.

Article 14

The Contracting Parties shall settle any disputes arising in relation to the interpretation and implementation of this Agreement through their Ministries of the Interior negotiations, or when unsuccessful through diplomatic channels.

 

Chapter IX

CLOSING PROVISIONS

Article 15

(1) The present Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period. The Contracting Parties shall notify one another of having complied with all their internal legal requirements necessary for the Agreement to enter into force. The Agreement shall come into effect on the thirtieth (30th) day following the receipt of the latter diplomatic note to that effect.

(2) Except for the provisions stated in Articles 2, 10 and 11 hereof, either of the Contracting Parties may suspend application of this Agreement in part or in full on the grounds of the protection of public security, public order and public health, by notifying the other Contracting Party in writing through diplomatic channels. Suspension of the Agreement and the termination of such suspension shall enter into force on the day following the receipt of the diplomatic note to that effect.

(3) This Agreement may be terminated by either of the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels. The termination shall enter into force on the ninetieth (90th) day following receipt of the diplomatic note to that effect.

Done in Budapest, on this 17 day of October 2001 in two originals, in Hungarian, Latvian and English languages, with all three texts being equally authentic. In case of any dispute, the English text shall prevail.

 

On behalf of the Government	On behalf of the Government
of the Republic of Latvia	of the Republic of Hungary
State Secretary of the	State Secretary of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Ministry of Interior
Māris Riekstiņš	Karoly Kontrat