Cabinet approves proposal for prisoners' exchange pact with

India today initiated the process of joining a treaty for transfer of sentenced prisoners with the Council of Europe.
The Union Cabinet today approved a proposal to formally request the Council of Europe for India's accession to the Council of Europe Convention on the transfer of Sentenced Persons through a letter.
The Cabinet also approved that once New Delhi receives a formal invitation from the Council of Europe to become a party to the Convention, New Delhi will accede to the Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
Acceding to a multilateral convention of the Council of Europe on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, to which 64 states are parties, would obviate the need to enter into bilateral arrangements with each one of them.

Accession to the convention will help Indian prisoners imprisoned in the Council of Europe Countries or vice-versa, to be near their families for serving the remaining part of their sentence, an official statement said here.
The Council of Europe Convention on transfer of Sentenced Persons came into being in April, 1983 and is effective since July, 1985. So far, a total of 64 countries have ratified the convention.

Prior to 2004 there was no legal provision either in the Code of Criminal Procedure or any other law under which foreign prisoners could be transferred to the country of their origin to serve the remaining part of their sentence nor was there a provision for the transfer of prisoners of Indian origin convicted by a foreign court to serve their sentence in India.

From the humanitarian angle it was felt that if foreign convicted nationals were transferred to their home countries and prisoners of Indian origin brought to India to serve the remaining part of their sentence, it would enable them to be near their families and would help in the process of their rehabilitation.
Keeping this in mind, the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 was enacted.
So far, New Delhi has signed bilateral agreements with 27 countries and has also acceded to the Inter-American Convention on Swerving Criminal sentences Abroad (IAC) - which is signed by member states of the Organisation of American States (OAS) but is also open to accession by non-OAS countries.

As of today, India has functional arrangements with 36 countries -- 20 countries under bilateral agreement and 16 countries under Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad -- for transfer of sentenced persons.