International legal assistance in criminal matters

• Author: Nada Simjanoska
• Pages: 141-147

European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

Vol. 1 No. 1

January 2017

ISSN 2519-1284

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

141

International legal assistance in criminal ma ers

Nada Simjanoska

Abstract

International legal cooperation between states, international organizations and institutions

of international character today is a very complicated and diverse process, because it arises

from very complex, delicate and varied relationships. In their relationships o en comes to the

commencement of judicial and other proceedings, whose solving, requires a mutual judicial

cooperation between domestic and foreign courts and other judicial authorities, which

impose the need of the establishment of a legal mechanism that allows a legal protection for

all participants in the proceedings.

International legal assistance in criminal ma ers has a new dimension with signifi cantly

increased requirements for mutual cooperation between states in the last decade. The reason

for this is the expansion of the criminal acts with a foreign element, which imposes the need

of reformation of the Criminal law in the Republic of Macedonia. These reforms confi rm the

intention to adopt the process of unifi cation with the acquis communuataire.

Starting from these conditions, and to further the interest of citizens and other legal entities,

this paper aims to review the most current issues in international legal assistance in terms of

national, bilateral and multilateral legislation, detecting the weaknesses in its functioning and

fi nding compatible solutions that shall be most e cient for achieving an international legal

unifi cation.

Keywords: le ers oratory, international legal assistance, international legal cooperation,

criminal legal assistance.

Introduction

Most authors dealing with international legal assistance in criminal ma ers, defi ne

the term legal assistance, such as:

Cooperation between countries in the area of criminal law traditionally occurs within the

legal assistance. Cases in the fi eld of criminal law are processes which are being led by the

state due to actual or alleged commi ed criminal a cts or violation of law, which are punishable

by monetary sanction or aim to punish or prescribing criminal legal sanction against a

perpetrator of crime (Hanker, Schomburg, 2009, 1).

Legal aid in criminal cases means any kind of support that foreign country could

provide a er receiving the le er of rogatory. This applies regardless of whether the

foreign proceedings are conducted by a court or a body, or whether legal aid is o ered

by a court or a body.

In its essence, International legal assistance is a process of acting of authority of a

state on the request for legal aid to the authority of another country in the manner

determined by international agreement concluded between these countries. This

assistance may be given on the basis of factual reciprocity if in the national law is not

expressly prohibited this kind of legal aid (Sladoje , 2012, 15).

International criminal legal aid is a set of actions and measures taken by the