FARC Peace Agreement of 24 November 2016

Background

On 24 November 2016, the Colombian government under President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia — Ejército del Pueblo) signed the final peace agreement (Acuerdo Final para la Terminación del Conflicto y la Construcción de una Paz Estable y Duradera) at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá. The agreement ended an armed conflict that had lasted more than 50 years.

JEP special jurisdiction (Acto Legislativo 01/2017)

To implement the transitional-justice component, the Colombian constitutional legislature created the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP) through Acto Legislativo 01/2017. It is an autonomous branch of the judiciary with exclusive jurisdiction over offenses connected with the armed conflict.

Ban on extradition under Article 19

Article 19 (Artículo transitorio) of Acto Legislativo 01/2017 — given concrete form by Articles 150 et seq. of Ley Estatutaria 1957 de 2019 — establishes, in principle, a ban on extradition for persons who fall under the protection of the JEP, with respect to conflict-related offenses. Extradition to third states requires prior certification by the JEP that the allegations do not fall within its jurisdiction or were committed after the cut-off date of 1 December 2016.

Extradition Colombia → Germany

If Colombia submits an extradition request for a person with JEP status, the German proceedings — even without a treaty — must take the ban under Article 19 (Artículo transitorio) of Acto Legislativo 01/2017 into account. Extradition may in practice be ruled out insofar as it covers conflict-related allegations that are subject to the JEP. Conversely, a request from Germany to Colombia for a JEP-protected person can be expected to receive a refusal.

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