6.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 7.  The applicant, Mr Manuel Rogelio Gallardo Sanchez, is a Venezuelan national who was born in 1965 and lives in Cape Town (South Africa). 8.  On 19 April 2005 the applicant, who had been accused of arson by the Greek authorities, was taken into custody pending extradition by the Rome police on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the Athens Court of Appeal on 26 January 2005 under the European Convention on Extradition of 13 December 1957. 9.  On 22 April 2005 the L’Aquila Court of Appeal validated the applicant’s arrest and ordered his detention. 10.  On 26 April 2005 the Ministry of Justice asked the Court of Appeal to extend his detention. 11.  At the hearing of 27 April 2005, the President of the Court of Appeal, ruling under Article 717 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 25 below), established the applicant’s identity and asked if he gave his consent to his extradition. He did not consent. 12.  On 9 June 2005 the Ministry of Justice informed the Court of Appeal that, on 25 May 2005, the Greek authorities had sent a request for extradition together with all the requisite supporting documents. 13.  On 21 June 2005 the public prosecutor’s office asked the Court of Appeal to grant the extradition request. 14.  The hearing was scheduled for 15 December 2005. At the request of the applicant’s representative, it was postponed until 12 January 2006. 15.  Without any prior investigation the Court of Appeal approved the extradition by a decision of 12 January 2006, deposited on 30 January 2006. It verified the conformity of the extradition request with the European Convention on Extradition and its compliance with the ne bis in idem and double-criminality principles, and it ruled out the possibility that the proceedings had been brought for any discriminatory or political reasons. 16.  On 3 March 2006 the applicant appealed on points of law, arguing in particular that the request for his extradition had been sent by the Greek authorities after the forty-day time-limit provided for in Article 16 § 4 of the European Convention on Extradition, which meant in his view that his detention had been unlawful. He further argued that the charges laid against him by the Greek authorities were not based on serious indications of guilt. He submitted that he should therefore be released. 17.  In a judgment of 11 May 2006, deposited with the registry on 18 September 2006, the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal with only one page of reasoning, in particular because it found that the extradition request had been received within the time-limit provided for in the European Convention on Extradition and that it did not have jurisdiction to examine whether serious indications of guilt had been adduced. 18.  In the meantime, on three occasions between June and September 2005, the applicant had applied to the Rome Court of Appeal, unsuccessfully, requesting his release. In its last decision of 27 October 2005, adopted in private in compliance with the adversarial principle, and without any prior investigation, the Court of Appeal found that there was no reason to depart from its two previous decisions, having regard to the ongoing risk that the applicant might abscond, even though the authorities had taken away his passport, and to the State’s obligation to comply with its international commitments. 19.  On 9 October 2006 the Minister of Justice signed the extradition order. 20.  On 26 October 2006 the applicant was extradited to Greece. 21.  The European Convention on Extradition, signed in Paris on 13 December 1957 and ratified by Italy by Law no. 300 of 30 January 1963, came into force in respect of Italy on 4 November 1963. It was amended by the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Extradition, signed on 17 March 1978, which came into force in respect of Italy on 23 April 1985. The relevant provisions, as amended, read as follows.
Article 8 – Pending proceedings for the same offences
“The requested Party may refuse to extradite the person claimed if the competent authorities of such Party are proceeding against him in respect of the offence or offences for which extradition is requested.”
Article 9 – Non bis in idem
“Extradition shall not be granted if final judgment has been passed by the competent authorities of the requested Party upon the person claimed in respect of the offence or offences for which extradition is requested. Extradition may be refused if the competent authorities of the requested Party have decided either not to institute or to terminate proceedings in respect of the same offence or offences.”
Article 12 – The request and supporting documents
“1.  The request [for extradition] shall be in writing and shall be addressed by the Ministry of Justice of the requesting Party to the Ministry of Justice of the requested Party; however, use of the diplomatic channel is not excluded. Other means of communication may be arranged by direct agreement between two or more Parties. 2.  The request shall be supported by:
(a)  the original or an authenticated copy of the conviction and sentence or detention order immediately enforceable or of the warrant of arrest or other order having the same effect and issued in accordance with the procedure laid down in the law of the requesting Party;
(b)  a statement of the offences for which extradition is requested. The time and place of their commission, their legal descriptions and a reference to the relevant legal provisions shall be set out as accurately as possible; and
(c)  a copy of the relevant enactments or, where this is not possible, a statement of the relevant law and as accurate a description as possible of the person claimed, together with any other information which will help to establish his identity and nationality.”
Article 16 – Provisional arrest
“1.  In case of urgency the competent authorities of the requesting Party may request the provisional arrest of the person sought. The competent authorities of the requested Party shall decide the matter in accordance with its law. 2.  The request for provisional arrest shall state that one of the documents mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 2.a, exists and that it is intended to send a request for extradition. It shall also state for what offence extradition will be requested and when and where such offence was committed and shall so far as possible give a description of the person sought. 3.  A request for provisional arrest shall be sent to the competent authorities of the requested Party either through the diplomatic channel or direct by post or telegraph or through the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) or by any other means affording evidence in writing or accepted by the requested Party. The requesting authority shall be informed without delay of the result of its request. 4.  Provisional arrest may be terminated if, within a period of 18 days after arrest, the requested Party has not received the request for extradition and the documents mentioned in Article 12. It shall not, in any event, exceed 40 days from the date of such arrest. The possibility of provisional release at any time is not excluded, but the requested Party shall take any measures which it considers necessary to prevent the escape of the person sought.