Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance in the Asian and Pacific Region (From Enhancing International Law Enforcement Co-operation, including Extradition Measures, P 61-74, 2005, Kauko Aromma and Terhi Viljanen, eds, --See NCJ-213767)

• NCJ Number: 213774
• Author(s): Takafumi Sato
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 14 pages
• Corporate Author: United Nations European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI)
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter analyzes judicial cooperation in the Asian and Pacific region, focusing on the extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties.

Abstract

The Asian and Pacific region is comprised of 48 countries and is one of the most diverse regions in the world in terms of ethnicities, religions, languages, government types, legal systems, and historical backgrounds. Bilateral treaties that provide provisions on extraditions and mutual legal assistance among these countries are complex and, in some cases, difficult to even locate. As such, the author identified four countries in the region to examine in terms of their bilateral treaties: Australia (common law system), China, Japan, and Thailand (all civil law systems). The treaties on extradition and mutual assistance entered into by each of these four countries are examined and the legal systems for extradition and mutual legal assistance in each country are outlined. Australia has entered into four extradition treaties and four treaties on mutual legal assistance with other countries in the Asian and Pacific region. China has signed treaties on judicial assistance in civil and/or criminal matters with 27 countries in the region and has signed treaties on extradition with 19 countries in the Asian and Pacific region. Japan, on the other hand, has only signed two extradition treaties--with Korea and the United States of America--and in 2003 signed its first mutual legal assistance treaty with the United States. Thailand has 10 extradition treaties with Asian, European, and North American countries and 5 mutual legal assistance treaties with European and North American countries. The chapter also describes the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters that was signed by eight Asian and Pacific region countries, which is viewed as a critical step in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime. In closing, the author underscores the importance of close, even face-to-face, communications among cooperating countries as a key component to realizing mutual legal assistance and extradition processes. Footnotes