ABSTRACT
In 1986, the Home Secretary set up an interdepartmental working group to review the law and practice in the UK in relation to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. This group recommended legislative reform in order to facilitate closer international co-operation in the rapid expansion in extraterritorial crime and to provide the UK with easier access to foreign evidence. Four areas where changes were necessary were identified: service of process; the taking of evidence; the transfer of prisoners; and the search and seizure of evidence for use in other jurisdictions. It was noted that the bulk of material generated under mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) is in documentary form. Reliance on oral testimony at trial can preclude the admission of witness statements taken abroad and is a disincentive to co-operation. Thus, in addition to reform of UK mutual legal assistance law, reform of the domestic rules on the reception of hearsay evidence was also required.1 The Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 (the 1990 Act), which was enacted to enable the UK to request and provide assistance to other countries, established a procedure for the service of overseas procedural documents in the UK. The Secretary of State was given the task of directing letters requesting assistance to the appropriate central authority which had been authorised to receive requests for mutual legal assistance. However, within a decade this legislation required updating to improve mutual assistance procedures generally, and to implement several European Union (EU) initiatives designed to improve judicial and police co-operation. These included the mutual assistance provisions of the 1990 Schengen Implementing Convention,2 the
2000 Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and the 2001 protocol4, and the evidence freezing provisions of the 2003 Council Framework Decision on the execution in the EU of orders freezing property or evidence.5
