Extradition from Armenia: How the Procedure Works and What an Extradition Lawyer Does

Who decides: Armenia’s Prosecutor General or Minister of Justice?

In Armenia, the extradition decision-maker depends on the stage of the foreign case. Article 32 of the Law on Legal Assistance in Criminal Proceedings (Armenian: «Քրեական վարույթներով իրավական օգնության մասին» օրենք) assigns the decision to the Prosecutor General (Հայաստանի Հանրապետության գլխավոր դատախազ) when the foreign case is at the pre-trial stage, and to the Minister of Justice (ՀՀ արդարադատության նախարար) when the case is already before a foreign court or a judgment has been delivered. Armenian courts separately control detention and review the decision if it is challenged. There is no single deadline for the whole process: arrest, arrival of the formal request, the decision and judicial review run on different clocks.

Obtain the Armenian decision and foreign warrant or judgment promptly. A Red Notice does not identify the procedural stage: an arrest warrant, accusation and final sentence differ. Counsel should verify the legal basis and service date because a challenge deadline may start on receipt.

Which Armenian laws and treaties govern the request?

The central statute is the Law on Legal Assistance in Criminal Proceedings, adopted 15 November 2024 and effective in December 2024. Chapter 5 governs extradition. Article 94 repealed the extradition chapters of the 1998 Criminal Procedure Code for later matters; Article 95 preserves the former rules for earlier matters. The consolidated text includes amendments of 27 August 2026 to Articles 40 and 61, so older guides citing former Code Articles 478–498 are unreliable for current decision-makers or custody limits. Under Article 2, a ratified treaty prevails over conflicting law.

Armenia has been bound by the 1957 European Convention on Extradition (ETS 024) since 25 April 2002 and its First and Second Additional Protocols (ETS 086 and 098) since 17 March 2004. It has not signed the Third Additional Protocol on simplified extradition. It signed the Fourth Protocol on 20 September 2012 but had not ratified it in the Council of Europe’s September 2026 table. Do not assume either protocol’s simplified procedure or deadlines apply. A bilateral or other multilateral treaty may govern a particular state pair, so check both states’ status and declarations.

Armenia is not an EU Member State, so an EU European Arrest Warrant is not executed there as an EU surrender order; the request needs an applicable treaty or another lawful basis. Without an extradition treaty, Articles 29(3) and 61 allow reciprocity only after a written arrangement is agreed in advance through diplomatic channels with the Armenian competent authority. Article 62 adds refusal grounds, and reciprocity does not guarantee acceptance.

The legal-basis map for an Armenian case

What happens from identification to actual surrender?

First determine whether the foreign authorities seek custody or only identification. Article 39 permits bringing in a wanted person for identification when no foreign custodial measure exists; this limited deprivation of liberty cannot exceed six hours from the actual deprivation. Article 40 applies when a foreign custodial preventive measure exists. The arrest record must state the exact time, place and legal basis, include the person’s statements, and be sent promptly with supporting documents to the competent Armenian authority.

For an Article 40 arrest, a court must order detention within 72 hours from the arrest or the person must be released. This is a safeguard for judicial control of custody, not a promise that extradition will be decided in three days. If the foreign case is already at trial or sentence-enforcement stage, Article 43 requires the Ministry of Justice to send its position on the legality of arrest and the need for custody to the Prosecutor General’s Office and inquiry body within 60 hours after arrest. If that position and the required documents and Armenian translations have not arrived at least 12 hours before the statutory arrest limit expires, the prosecutor must order release.

After the formal request arrives, the authority checks the request, foreign warrant or judgment, identity and supporting documents. Article 36 permits requests for further information. A missing document does not automatically defeat every later request: the effect depends on the treaty, deadline and documents received. An INTERPOL alert is not a final Armenian extradition decision.

The stage-by-stage timetable: what each clock measures

Why 40 days, two months and 11 months 10 days are different limits

Article 43 concerns temporary detention before the formal extradition request. The domestic rule is normally up to 40 days, or another period set by an applicable treaty. Armenia’s declaration under Article 16 of the European Convention on Extradition says provisional arrest must end if the formal request and Article 12 documents have not been received within one month after arrest. For a Convention request, counsel must therefore check the declaration and the date the documents were received; the domestic 40-day period must not be treated as ten extra days after the treaty month. Article 43 generally requires release if the formal request does not arrive within the applicable limit, subject to the distinct Article 47 procedure for Armenian citizens.

After a formal request, Article 44 allows detention for extradition initially for two months. Under Article 45, an extension application must be submitted ten days before the current period expires, and each extension may be no longer than two months. Extradition detention may not exceed ten months. Article 45 also caps the overall period of detention under the extradition procedure at 11 months and ten days, except for the separate Article 46 handover stage; where more than one foreign state is seeking the person, the period is calculated separately for each state. These are maximum safeguards, not periods that must be served. Counsel should prepare a day-by-day chronology of the arrest and every court order.

Article 46 permits separate detention for actual handover only if the Article 45 maximum has passed without surrender and a final, enforceable extradition decision exists. It cannot exceed one month. Under Article 58, the requesting state receives the handover time and place; if it fails to collect the person within the agreed period, custody must end. Release does not itself withdraw the request or cancel the decision.

Which Armenian court handles custody and which reviews the decision?

For provisional detention under Article 43 and extradition detention under Article 44, the application goes to the first-instance court for the place where the person was arrested or taken into custody. The court considering custody does not decide whether the person is guilty abroad or re-try the foreign court’s documents. By contrast, Article 34 provides judicial review of the Prosecutor General’s or Minister of Justice’s extradition decision by the first-instance court of general jurisdiction (առաջին ատյանի ընդհանուր իրավասության դատարան) at the location of the authority that made it, followed by review in the appellate court and the Court of Cassation (Վճռաբեկ դատարան). A challenge to the legality of the arrest under Article 42 and an appeal against a detention order under Article 48 are separate routes. Their deadlines and scope differ; obtain the decision and its service date immediately and use the dedicated guide to refusal grounds and challenges for the detailed appeal route.

Can an Armenian citizen or a dual national be extradited?

Article 55(2) of the Constitution and Article 28 of the 2024 law prohibit extraditing an Armenian citizen unless a ratified international treaty provides otherwise. For the 1957 European Convention, Armenia has declared that it will not extradite its nationals and that nationality is determined on the date of the extradition decision. A second passport, birth abroad, long residence in another country or a foreign warrant does not by itself establish whether Armenian citizenship exists. Relevant proof may include an Armenian passport or citizenship certificate, birth and naturalisation records, and documents showing when citizenship was acquired or lost.

Non-extradition is not immunity from prosecution. Article 47 provides a separate custody procedure for transferring proceedings to Armenia concerning serious or especially serious offences committed abroad by Armenian citizens. Detention for that transfer is capped at 40 days, excluding earlier temporary detention. It concerns possible proceedings in Armenia, not extradition; counsel must verify citizenship and identify the actual cooperation route.

What an extradition lawyer checks at each stage

After arrest, counsel should establish the legal basis, obtain the arrest record and court orders, confirm the time, seek access to the person and arrange an interpreter if needed. Article 41 recognises rights to a lawyer, public-defender assistance for those without sufficient means, detention challenges and interpretation in specified proceedings. Family can provide identity and citizenship records, medical information and a chronology, not negotiate an informal surrender.

When the formal request arrives, counsel checks the treaty or reciprocity basis, the stage of the foreign case, the requesting authority, the alleged conduct, the warrant or judgment, translations and any request under Article 36. An accusation, warrant and final sentence have different legal functions. Before the decision, counsel should preserve evidence relevant to Article 33 and any assurances sought under Article 37. Detailed refusal grounds and challenge strategy belong on the Armenia extradition-challenge page. In Khachaturov v. Armenia (no. 59687/17, 24 June 2021), the European Court of Human Rights required individual assessment of serious health risks associated with transfer; it did not establish automatic refusal.

How asylum, an absentia judgment or a foreign sentence changes the file

Asylum, citizenship and an extradition challenge are different matters. Article 4(4) bars providing asylum information to the requesting state when it is the person’s country of origin. Coordinate any pending asylum process with the extradition file; it does not automatically cancel detention. Armenia’s Convention reservations also concern political asylum granted in Armenia and serious health- or age-related transfer risks; applicability depends on the facts and treaty relationship.

If a foreign judgment was delivered in the person’s absence, Article 38 and the assurances rules make notification and procedural rights in the requesting state relevant. For sentence enforcement under the 1957 Convention, Armenia’s declaration requires a sentence of at least six months. Separately, Article 33(2)(8) of the domestic law sets refusal thresholds: a sentence of less than six months for sentence-enforcement requests, or an offence punishable by less than one year’s imprisonment under Armenian or requesting-state law for prosecution-stage requests, unless the applicable treaty provides otherwise. The applicable treaty and the facts must be checked; detailed refusal grounds belong in the Armenia challenge guide. Transferring a person convicted in Armenia to serve a sentence abroad is a separate procedure.

What to send Armenian counsel before the first hearing

• The arrest record showing the exact date, time and place of deprivation of liberty.
• Every Armenian court order and the date each order was received.
• The foreign warrant, accusation or judgment, together with any translations already provided.
• Passports, citizenship certificates, birth records and naturalisation or renunciation documents.
• The names of the requesting state and authority, and any foreign case number or hearing date.
• Current medical records and medication information, if relevant to safe transfer or custody.
• Credible documents showing specific risks in the destination state, if counsel asks for them.

Keep originals safe and date each call, hearing, service and custody extension. Tell counsel immediately if a decision has been served, because receipt may start a short deadline.

A hypothetical example: arrest before the full request arrives

Imagine a Georgian national is identified in Yerevan after a foreign custody alert. Counsel checks whether Article 39’s identity procedure or Article 40’s arrest procedure applies. Under Article 40, the exact arrest time controls the 72-hour judicial-custody safeguard. Counsel identifies the Article 32 authority and checks whether the request and documents arrived within the Article 43 limit and any treaty declaration. A Red Notice is not a final decision.

If the foreign case is at trial or sentence stage, Articles 32 and 43 give the Ministry of Justice a role, while a court still controls custody. Release because the request arrived too late does not necessarily prevent a later detention application after a valid formal request. This example shows sequence only; nationality, treaty, offence and documents may change the result.

What happens when extradition is authorised?

Authorisation is not physical handover. Under Article 58, after a final decision the requesting state is notified of the handover time and place. The decision cannot be carried out if the request is withdrawn or a relevant limitation period expires before handover, unless a treaty provides otherwise. If the state fails to collect the person within the agreed period, custody ends.

Article 59 protects speciality: generally, the receiving state cannot prosecute or enforce a sentence for another pre-surrender offence, or transfer the person to a third state, without the required consent, subject to exceptions. This state-to-state consent differs from the person’s consent to simplified surrender. Migration removal or expulsion is also distinct from extradition; see extradition versus deportation. For local court access, see the Yerevan guide; for the general process, see how extradition works.

The site’s team can coordinate cross-border defence with qualified Armenian counsel. For a case-specific review, send an enquiry with the decision and its service date.