NCJ Number
195939
Date Published
September 2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article discusses mutual legal assistance and extradition in regard to international cooperation in fighting transnational organized crime.
Abstract
Transnational organized crime includes offenses committed by organized bands or groups of criminals in which national borders are crossed in connection with the crime, such as drug trafficking and money laundering. The technological advances that have facilitated trade, travel, and telecommunications have also benefited international criminal activity. Many nations have stepped up their efforts to confront and contain transnational organized crime. The key features of modern mechanisms for international law enforcement cooperation are police to police assistance, letters rogatory, and mutual legal assistance treaties. Most international cooperation is conducted by direct liaison between police in the requesting and requested state. A major vehicle for advancing this cooperation is the International Criminal Police Organization, or INTERPOL. A letter rogatory is a request from a judge in one country to a judge in another in which the former asks the latter to use the requested state’s judicial power to assist the requesting judge. The letter process has not been very successful in most cases. An alternative is provided by the development of mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs). A MLAT places an unambiguous obligation on each party to provide assistance in criminal investigations in the other party, such as bank records, questioning witnesses, and serving documents. Most MLATs have five key components that make the processing of requests easier and more predictable than other mechanisms for cooperation. These are scope of the obligation, bases for denial, use limitations, central authority, and asset forfeiture. The three issues that typically arise regarding extradition treaties are extraditable offenses, evidence needed, and extradition of nationals.