Moldova

A judgment rejecting an extradition request — even where such rejection follows the mere withdrawal of the request by the requesting State — precludes the adoption of a subsequent decision granting extradition following the submission by the same State of a new request concerning the same facts. On the contrary, a decision of a purely procedural nature (such as one based on the absence of the requested person from the national territory) is not capable of producing the preclusive effect. Accordingly, even if the sought person is no longer present within Italian territory, the person has an interest in obtaining a decision on the merits rather than a merely procedural ruling. However, if the Court has already obtained and deemed adequate the assurances requested from the requesting State, it may no longer issue a judgment rejecting the extradition request on the merits, but only a decision of “no grounds to proceed”.

The requested person must be informed of the subject-matter of the extradition proceedings. Accordingly, where such information did not cover additional episodes of fraud described in the custodial order subsequently transmitted in support of the extradition request, this gives rise to a ground of nullity. Indeed, in order to safeguard defence rights, once the subject-matter of the extradition proceedings has changed, the judicial authority must order the appearance of the person concerned; failure to do so results in nullity for violation of the right of defence and, consequently, in the invalidity of the acts carried out in the proceedings.