NCJ Number
189816
Journal
Justitiele verkenningen Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 43-55
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines the role and function of the European convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases and its relationship to other international conventions.
Abstract
The analysis emphasizes that for rules pertaining to the contents of an international request for legal assistance, the judicial authorities must still refer either to article 14 of the European convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases or to article 37 of the Benelux extradition treaty and convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases. One of the conclusions of the analysis is that it is a deficiency that article 1 of the European convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases does not include the European money-laundering and confiscation convention. Thus, judicial authorities may not directly exchange international requests for legal assistance with a view to confiscation (and, generally, the use of means of coercion). The analysis notes the relaxation of the international legal assistance procedure and clarification of specific types of legal assistance. The analysis focuses on the rules pertaining to interrogation by video link, examination of witnesses or expert witnesses by telephone link, joint investigation teams, infiltration, and the interception and recording of telecommunications messages. The analysis concludes that the European convention on mutual assistance in criminal cases is innovative in a number of ways. The analysis also concludes that the ratification of the convention will result in the need for Dutch legislators to provide enhancements for the Dutch situation or even to draft new legislation. Footnotes and 5 references (Publisher summary modified)