Procedural documents may be addressed by the applicant authority directly to the persons in the United Kingdom to whom they are addressed. Procedural documents should always be posted, unless the national law of the requesting authority does not legally allow it. The United Kingdom is able to provide a wide range of assistance. The Home Office has developed detailed guidelines on mutual legal assistance, translated into Polish and Turkish, for foreign authorities wishing to apply for an ALM in the UK. Under this Convention, the Parties agree to afford each other the highest possible level of mutual legal assistance in gathering evidence, hearing witnesses, experts and accused persons, etc. Requests for mutual legal assistance addressed to the United Kingdom in international civil law and family law will be dealt with separately. Further information can be found in the MLA guidelines. The Department`s lawyers, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, negotiate agreements with foreign countries on the surrender of fugitive offenders, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and the transfer of convicted persons. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has signed more than 60 agreements in these three areas. The Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories each have their own legal system, independent of the United Kingdom. Requests for mutual legal assistance for Crown Dependencies or British Overseas Territories should be addressed to the appropriate Attorney General.
Do not send applications for Crown Dependencies or British Overseas Territories to the Home Office. Topics reviewed by the Treaties and Law Unit include international trade law, privileges and immunities, civil aviation and ocean affairs, international labour conventions, human rights, environment and health, visa abolition and space. The unit also advises on the drafting and interpretation of cooperation agreements and arrangements, ranging from customs and police cooperation to cultural and educational cooperation. The Legal Aid Unit also plays an advisory role on certain aspects of international criminal law and international legal cooperation in criminal matters. In addition, the Department advises on the enactment of laws on the implementation of international agreements in the HKSAR Special Administrative Region. It deals with United Nations Security Council resolutions, maritime affairs, nature conservation, surrender of fugitive offenders and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Such assistance may take the form of investigations and identification of persons, places and things in police custody and assistance in the immobilization of the instruments of criminal activity. With respect to the latter, the mutual legal assistance treaties between the United States and Caribbean countries do not cover the United States. Tax evasion and are therefore ineffective when applied to Caribbean countries, which normally operate as offshore “tax havens”.
[ref. needed] Requests for assistance emanating exclusively from Scotland should be addressed directly to the Crown Office in Edinburgh (unless the treaty stipulates that requests should be addressed to the Home Office). Modern states have developed mechanisms to request and obtain evidence for criminal investigations and prosecutions. When evidence or other forms of mutual legal assistance, such as testimony or service of documents, are required by a foreign sovereign, States may seek to cooperate informally through their respective law enforcement agencies or resort to what are generally referred to as “letters rogatory”. [1] The practice of mutual legal assistance has evolved from the Committee-based system of letters rogatory, although it is now much more common for States to address letters rogatory directly to the designated Central Authority in each State. In current practice, such requests can still be made on the basis of reciprocity, but can also be made on the basis of bilateral and multilateral treaties that require countries to provide assistance. Legal assistance (MLA) is a form of cooperation between States to obtain assistance in the investigation or prosecution of criminal offences. Mutual legal assistance is generally used to obtain material that cannot be obtained on the basis of police cooperation, in particular investigations that require coercive means. Applications are made by means of a formal international request letter.
In the civil courts, these are also called “Letter of Request”. This assistance is usually requested by courts or prosecutors and is also called “judicial cooperation”. This legislation also allows the UK to assist foreign authorities seeking formal assistance in detention and recovery without conviction. Requests for assistance shall be addressed to the competent central authority. Assistance may be refused by both countries (depending on the details of the agreement) for political or security reasons, or if the offence in question is not punishable in the same way in both countries. Some agreements may encourage legal assistance to nationals of other countries. These agreements and arrangements provide for reciprocal visa waivers and facilitate travel between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and other jurisdictions. These agreements are particularly important for business people and tourists.
There are more than 160 agreements or arrangements allowing passport holders in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region visa-free or visa-free access to other jurisdictions. The Legal Aid Unit provides legal assistance to the Secretary of Finance and the Minister of Security regarding the participation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the FATF as a full member under the name “Hong Kong, China”. Lawyers participate in FATF international meetings, participate in expert working groups and act as legal experts in the mutual evaluation of the implementation of AML/CFT measures by other members. The Department`s advisers contribute to maintaining the international profile of the HKSAR Special Administrative Region by regularly giving lectures and participating in regional and international seminars organized by other Governments and international organizations such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law. In addition, the Council frequently organizes briefings for local and foreign law enforcement agencies on mutual legal assistance issues and provides documents in the area of international cooperation in criminal matters such as asset recovery and other forms of mutual legal assistance. For more information on how to use HKSAR assistance in criminal matters, see the Guidelines for the Implementation of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Regulations (Chapter 525, Laws of Hong Kong) and the Guide to Asset Recovery of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Many countries are able to provide a wide range of legal assistance to other countries through their ministries of justice, even in the absence of a treaty, through joint investigations between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries, emergency requests, requests for mutual legal assistance, etc. However, in some developing countries, national laws may indeed create obstacles to effective law enforcement cooperation and mutual legal assistance. [1] The International Law Division comprises the Treaties and Law Unit and the Legal Assistance Unit. The Department advises the government on international law issues. It negotiates international agreements or participates, as a member of the Chinese delegation or the HKSAR, in such negotiations or other international conferences. It also handles requests for international legal cooperation.
The Legal Aid Unit performs the functions of the Central Authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the purpose of mutual judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The Unit coordinates and processes requests to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the surrender of fugitive offenders and mutual legal assistance; and advises the Government on requests for the transfer of sentenced persons to and from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Unit also handles applications from foreign courts in accordance with the Evidence Ordinance (Chapter 8). With the approval of the Minister of Justice, the Unit acts as the central authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and processes applications for return and access to and from Convention countries in accordance with the Child Abduction and Custody Regulations (chap. 512). Details of the Convention and related operational arrangements in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are available at this link. A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of collecting and exchanging information for the application of public or criminal laws. A request for mutual legal assistance is often used to formally question a suspect in criminal proceedings if the suspect resides in a foreign country. In addition to conducting negotiations, the Division`s counsel also provides legal support in bilateral negotiations within the framework of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delegation. The negotiations cover, inter alia, air transport services, avoidance of double taxation, customs cooperation, free trade agreements, agreements on the promotion and protection of investments and the abolition of visas.
The number of bilateral agreements to which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has acceded has exceeded 180. These agreements provide for the provision of assistance in the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences and criminal proceedings. Types of assistance include the taking of evidence, the execution of search and seizure requests, the production of documents, the retention and confiscation of proceeds of crime, the transfer of persons for support purposes, and the service of judicial proceedings.