Earlier this week the United States Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), hosted an advanced Mutual Legal Assistance Workshop for regional attorneys in Barbados. This workshop follows the first Mutual Legal Assistance Seminar, held in Barbados in April this year.
Building effective central authorities for mutual legal assistance in asset recovery matters is essential to ensuring successful outcomes in these cases. The transnational nature of serious organised crime poses major challenges for national justice systems.
The close geographical proximity of Eastern Caribbean countries makes cross-border crime even more prevalent. It is vital that regional partners afford each other the widest measure of assistance permitted by their domestic law.
This workshop provided an opportunity for the specific points of contact for mutual legal assistance in each jurisdiction to further their knowledge of mutual legal assistance legislation and best practice. The workshop also provided the specific points of contact with an opportunity to use the tools that have been created after the last seminar, including the new regional mutual legal assistance website and handbook. (PR)
