The Executive Yuan approved a draft act governing international mutual judicial assistance in criminal matters today as part of an effort to create an environment facilitating criminal justice cooperation between Taiwan and other countries.
Premier Lai Ching-te said transnational crimes have grown rapidly in recent years as international drug cartels, money laundering rings and criminals of all shades take advantage of remote border areas or differences in legal systems to evade criminal investigation, prosecution and sentencing. To close these loopholes, nations must band together to provide mutual legal assistance, coordinate criminal investigations and confiscate proceeds quickly, and bring criminals to justice.
Drafted by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the bill provides a clearly defined legal basis to follow when other countries pursuing criminal cases request judicial assistance from Taiwan, or when Taiwan requests the same of other countries.
The enactment of a law dedicated to international mutual judicial assistance on criminal affairs is an important indicator for assessing Taiwan's compliance with the international cooperation recommendations of the intergovernmental organization Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Today's bill should therefore be marked for priority review by the Legislature to prepare Taiwan for the third round of mutual evaluations by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, scheduled for the end of 2018, Premier Lai said. He instructed the MOJ to actively coordinate communications with legislative caucuses of all parties to ensure the bill's early passage.