23.—F37[(1)] A request for the extradition of any person shall be made in writing and shall be communicated by—

(a) a diplomatic agent of the requesting country, accredited to the State, F38[…]

F37[(aa) the means specified in an order under subsection (2), or]

(b) any other means provided in the relevant extradition provisions.

F37[(2) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may, after consultation with the Minister, by order provide that a request for the extradition of any person by a country, being a country in relation to which this Part applies that is specified in the order, may be communicated—

(a) directly to the Minister, and

(b) by electronic or other methods, or both, or by such a combination of both, as may be specified in the order,

where such means of communication have been arranged with that country by direct agreement.

(3) An order under subsection (2), in addition to the matters referred to in that subsection and in relation to a country specified in the order—

(a) shall specify the authority of, or other person in, the country, by which or by whom a request for extradition may be made (in this section referred to as the ‘sender’), and

(b) may provide for any other relevant or ancillary matters in relation to the means of communication of requests for extradition that have been arranged by direct agreement.

(4) An order under subsection (2) shall be evidence that the means of communication, and the sender, specified in it have been arranged by direct agreement with the country concerned.

(5) Where a request for extradition, communicated by the means provided in a relevant order under subsection (2), includes a document that is an electronic copy of a source document—

(a) the sender shall provide the Minister with an electronic copy of a certificate of the sender stating that the electronic copy of the source document corresponds to the source document (and in this subsection the electronic copy of the source document, so certified, shall be referred to as the ‘corresponding electronic copy’),

(b) the corresponding electronic copy, and any reproduction by electronic means thereof in paper or similar format in legible form, shall, subject to subsection (6), be deemed to be the source document, and

(c) where the source document would be received in evidence without further proof in proceedings to which this Part applies, the corresponding electronic copy, or any reproduction thereof, that is deemed to be that source document in accordance with paragraph (b), shall, subject to subsection (6), be received in evidence without further proof and, where the source document has been sealed, judicial notice shall be taken of the image of that seal in that corresponding electronic copy or the said reproduction thereof.

(6) If the Minister is not satisfied that a corresponding electronic copy within the meaning of subsection (5), or any reproduction by electronic means thereof as referred to in subsection (5), corresponds to the source document concerned, he or she may require the sender to cause the source document, or a true copy thereof, to be provided directly to him or her within such period as he or she may specify.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), a true copy of a source document is a document that purports to be certified by—

(a) the judicial authority in the requesting country that issued the source document, or

(b) an officer of the requesting country duly authorised to so do,

to be a true copy of the source document and, where a source document would be received in evidence without further proof in proceedings to which this Part applies, the true copy thereof shall be received in evidence without further proof, and where the seal of the judicial authority or the officer concerned has been affixed to the true copy, judicial notice shall be taken of that seal.

(8) In this section, a reference to a request for extradition includes a reference to the documents referred to in paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 25(1) supporting the request.

(9) In this section, ‘source document’, in relation to an electronic copy, means the document, required by or under this Act to be provided in a request for extradition, of which the electronic copy is made.]