ASEAN fails to agree on Malaysian-drafted regional legal treaty
ASEAN fails to agree on Malaysian-drafted regional legal treaty
Agencies, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Southeast Asian attorney generals failed to agree on a Malaysian-
drafted treaty to deepen antiterror cooperation after talks here
on Wednesday, the official Bernama news agency reported.
Malaysian Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said several
countries indicated they were prepared to sign the treaty for
mutual assistance in criminal matters but others wanted time to
study it further.
Among concerns expressed were those related to the
application, enforceability and relevance of the treaty to
domestic laws, said Abdul Gani, who chaired the talks.
"They agree that mutual legal assistance is required and
necessary but the issue is how do we put it in an effective
instrument," he said after wrapping up the three-day meeting.
Malaysia, which proposed the treaty at a meeting of law
ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
in June last year, says it is vital to iron out procedural
differences in regional legal systems to ensure criminals have no
"safe havens" in the region.
The proposed agreement -- part of a drive against terrorism,
drug trafficking, money laundering and other cross-border crimes
-- aims to reduce legal impediments to cooperation in fighting
such problems.
Officials said the treaty would help countries to share
evidence and bank records, and to freeze suspects' foreign
assets, conduct searches and seizures and simplify procedures for
witnesses to testify at trials abroad.
Abdul Gani said the treaty was designed to facilitate smooth
investigations.
"Throughout the years, there were problems of recording
statements and obtaining evidence (from another country). If we
have a treaty among us, it makes things much easier," he said.
Since the treaty was not an ASEAN initiative, he said it did
not require the consensus of all 10 members before it could be
signed.
"It is a treaty to be signed by like-minded ASEAN countries.
We are not bound by the rules of consensus in ASEAN. Even if
there are only two or three countries which are in agreement,
they can sign it straight away."
Countries will submit their views and suggestions to the
secretariat within a month, and the attorney generals will meet
again for a second round of negotiations in Indonesia at a date
to be fixed, he added.
The treaty does not include extradition, which is covered by
bilateral pacts and existing laws in some countries, officials
said.
The move to intensify cooperation and remove red tape and
other legal obstacles hindering the region in the fight against
terrorism and other transnational crimes followed last October's
bombing in Indonesia's Bali island which killed 202 people.
Representatives from Australia, Britain and the United States
attended the three-day meeting, along with ASEAN members
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Vietnam was absent.