3.—(1) In this Act—

“act” includes omission;

F1["country" includes—

(a) a place or territory for whose external relations a country, other than that place or territory, is (in whole or in part) responsible, and

(b) a place or territory for whose external relations the government of a country, other than the government of that place or territory, is (in whole or in part) responsible.]

“detention order”, in relation to another country, means any order involving deprivation of liberty which has been made by a criminal court in that country in addition to or instead of a prison sentence;

“diplomatic agent” means an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary or chargé d'affaires;

“extradition” means the surrender of a person under the provisions of Part II to a country in relation to which that Part applies;

“extradition agreement” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (1) of section 8;

“extradition provisions” means the provisions of an extradition agreement or of an order under section 8 applying Part II otherwise than in pursuance of an extradition agreement;

“habeas corpus proceedings” means proceedings (including proceedings on appeal) under section 4.2° of Article 40 of the Constitution;

“imprisonment”, in relation to the State, includes penal servitude F2[…] and, in relation to any other country, includes deprivation of liberty under a detention order;

F3[…]

“justice of the F4[High Court]” includes the President of the F4[High Court];

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“person claimed” means a person whose extradition is requested;

F1["political offence" does not include any of the following:

(a) the taking or attempted taking of the life of a Head of State or a member of his family;

(b) an offence within the scope of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances done at Vienna on the 20th of December, 1988;

(c) an offence within the scope of the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings adopted by resolution 52/164 of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 15 December 1997;

(d) an offence within the scope of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism adopted by resolution 54/109 of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1999;]

“remand institution” means an institution (other than a prison) within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960;

“requested country” means a country which is requested to surrender a person to the State for prosecution or punishment for an offence;

“requesting country” means a country which requests extradition;

F5["revenue offence", in relation to any country or place outside the State, means an offence in connection with taxes, duties, customs or exchange control but does not include an offence involving the use or threat of force or perjury or the forging of a document issued under statutory authority or an offence alleged to have been committed by an officer of the revenue of that country or place in his capacity as such officer or an offence within the scope of Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances done at Vienna on the 20th day of December, 1988;

F2[…]]

“sentence” includes detention order.

F6["torture" has the meaning assigned to it by the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act, 2000.]

F7[(1A) For the purposes of the amendments to this Act effected by Part 2 of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act 2001, "Convention country" means—

(a) a country designated under section 4(1) of that Act, or

(b) in such provisions of this Act as are specified in an order under subsection (1A) (inserted by section 52 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003) of section 4 of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act 2001, a country designated by that order, to which the provisions so specified apply.]

F8[F9[(1B) For the purposes of the amendments to this Act effected by Part 3 of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act 2001, "Convention country" means—

(a) a country designated under section 10(1) of that Act, or

(b) in such provisions of this Act as are specified in an order under subsection (1A) (inserted by section 52 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003) of section 10 of the Extradition (European Union Conventions) Act 2001, a country designated by that order, to which the provisions so specified apply.]

(1C) For the purposes of this Act and the Convention of 1996, the Central Authority in the State shall be the Minister.]

(2) This Act applies, except where otherwise provided, in relation to an offence whether committed or alleged to have been committed before or after the passing of this Act.