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The Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Consul-General and Ambassador of Japan, Mr Shigekazu Sato, on behalf of Japan, today (May 23) signed the Agreement between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and Japan on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA Agreement).
The MLA Agreement is the 24th bilateral arrangement of its kind that Hong Kong has signed with other jurisdictions. It contains all the essential features and safeguards of international agreements of this type. Assistance covered by the MLA Agreement includes -
* Obtaining testimony, statements or items;
* Examining persons, items or places;
* Locating or identifying persons, items or places;
* Providing items in the possession of the requested Party;
* Presenting an invitation to a person whose appearance in the requesting Party is sought;
* Transfer of a person in custody for giving testimony or assisting in investigations, prosecutions or other proceedings;
* Serving judicial documents;
* Assisting in proceedings related to confiscation and immobilisation of proceeds or instrumentalities of criminal offences; and
* Other assistance permitted under the laws of the requested Party.
The MLA Agreement comes into force 30 days after the date on which the parties exchange notes informing each other that their respective internal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the agreement have been completed.
Ends/Friday, May 23, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:17
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