CHAIR’S SUMMARYFIFTEENTH REGIONAL SEMINAR ON GOOD GOVERNANCEFOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIESTokyo, Japan (Online)
20 – 22 December 2021

OPENING CEREMONY
1. Mr. Morinaga Taro, Director of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for thePrevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI), welcomed the participants
to the Fifteenth Regional Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries, cohosted by the Ministry of Justice of Japan (MOJ) and UNAFEI. Officials and experts fromthe following jurisdictions attended the seminar: Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
The seminar was chaired by UNAFEI Professor OKUDA Yoshinori (Mr.).

VISITING EXPERT’S LECTURE
2. MS. KATE CHEUK, Principal Investigator, Operations Department, Independent
Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong, China, delivered her lecture on thetheme of Effective International Cooperation for Combating Corruption. Noting theconsensus among criminal justice practitioners that corruption has become transnational,
there is a growing need for mutual legal assistance (MLA) to obtain evidence from foreign
jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute corruption cases. Hong Kong has bilateral
MLATS with 31 jurisdictions and is a State party to UNCAC and the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). Under the United Nations
Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), State parties have a duty to assist one anotherto combat corruption. Hong Kong’s legal framework establishes the Department of Justice(DOJ) as the Central Authority to handle MLA requests. To ensure speedy assistance, the
MLA Unit of the DOJ has committed to providing responses within 10 days of receipt of arequest. The types of assistance that can be provided include the taking of oral evidence,the production of tangible items, search and seizure, service of process, etc. Also, restraint
orders and the enforcement of external confiscation orders have become increasingly
important, as well as providing live video-link evidence – a practice that has increased
during the COVID-19 pandemic. To facilitate MLA, a template for MLA requests isavailable online. In line with UNCAC, political offences, ulterior (i.e. discriminatory)
purpose, double jeopardy, impairment of sovereignty and military offences are all
mandatory grounds for denying requests. Ms. Cheuk shared an example of a case in which
Hong Kong failed to receive MLA when dual criminality was not satisfied in a caseinvolving private corruption. She also raised the importance of informal requests to obtain
information (suspect whereabouts, corporate information, real properly information)
without the need to submit formal MLA requests. This information can be used forintelligence but cannot be admitted as evidence in court. Ms. Cheuk introduced three casesthat demonstrated: (1) the importance of conducing parallel investigations and using
agency-to-agency cooperation to gather evidence and intelligence; (2) the potential value- 11 -- 11 -

of using civil actions to facilitate the recovery of damages by injured parties; (3) the ability
to use MLA to secure video-link testimony of witnesses located in other jurisdictions; and(4) the use of MLA to restrain assets and trace and recover the proceeds of crime. The
ICAC engages in capacity-building activities to enhance international cooperation bycreating teams dedicated to training and offering customized training programmes both inperson and online. The benefits to Hong Kong include protecting Hong Kong’s businesses
from corruption threats by enhancing anti-corruption skills and awareness in neighbouring
countries. These capacity-building activities, staff exchanges, etc. facilitate information
sharing, the coordination of investigations and the building of trust among agencies andpractitioners.
3. Mr. SEKI Yoshitaka, Director General of the International Affairs Division of the Criminal
Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice, Japan, presented on the topic of Key issues on practicaland effective MLA – importance of communication. He began by introducing the basic
framework for MLA in Japan, under which the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) serves as theCentral Authority for receiving requests for assistance from treaty partners; non-treaty
partners must submit requests through formal diplomatic channels, i.e. through the Ministryof Foreign Affairs (MOFA). By its nature, MLA is time consuming, but the speed of
responding to MLA requests can be accelerated through the use of bilateral or multilateraltreaties (UNCAC, UNTOC, etc.) as a basis. Despite the increased need for MLA, there are
a number of barriers to providing assistance – communication being one of the primary
examples. Given that most crime is domestic, criminal justice practitioners are often illequipped and unwilling to handle cross-border investigations. Thus, MLA practitioners
must assume the burden to overcome challenges. Mr. Seki stressed the importance of using
communications in English to supplement non-English MLA requests to overcome
language issues. To avoid translation issues, he suggested drafting the original text ofrequests in one’s native language and keeping the sentences short and vocabulary simple.
Thus, careful MLA request writers can actively take steps to improve the quality oftranslations. Knowing the system of the requested State is also important to overcome
potential differences, such as which authority is responsible for conducting investigations,the need for sworn testimony, knowing what can and cannot be provided on a voluntarybasis, when warrants are necessary, when suspects must be notified of requests for
documents, etc. Mr. Seki called on all of the participants to take an active role in facilitating
more direct communication with their counterparts in other countries.

COUNTRY PRESENTATIONS
4. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Order (MACMO) of
2005 establishes the legal framework for MLA in Brunei, under which the Attorney
General serves as the Central Authority, and the Corrupt Asset Recovery Order (CARO)
of 2012 establishes the legal framework for asset recovery and applies to serious crimes,
including bribery and money-laundering. A criminal breach of trust and money-launderingcase was introduced to demonstrate MLA successes and challenges. While the challenges
included lengthy response times, bureaucratic rules and lack of familiarity with foreignlaws, utilizing informal channels before submitting a formal request can improve
effectiveness and save time. Brunei also introduced its Interagency Working Group with
Malaysia on intelligence, investigative matters and joint operations. The Working Groupbegan in 2002 to facilitate informal and formal MLA requests in the areas of intelligence,
investigation, training and obtaining testimony in court, and annual meetings present- 12 -- 12 -

statistics and review pending requests. The traffic-light concept (green, yellow, red) is used
as a monitoring mechanism to track whether requests are being managed in a responsive
and timely manner. The successful outcomes of the Working Group demonstrate the valueof pursuing closer forms of cross-border cooperation on a sustained basis.
5. CAMBODIA: Despite having acceded to UNCAC in 2007, Cambodia had no comprehensive
framework on MLA. However, on 27 June 2020, Cambodia enacted three new laws tostrengthen its legal framework for MLA, including the new Law on Mutual Legal
Assistance in Criminal Matters. The law establishes the Ministry of Justice as the Central
Authority for receiving requests and identifies the types of assistance that can be provided,
the procedures for handling incoming requests and the languages in which they may besubmitted (Khmer and English). Most corruption-related requests to Cambodia seek theidentification of bank accounts or property or the securing of testimony. Requests areprioritized based on treaty status, type of offence, the level of complexity of the request andthe deadline for implementation. The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigates andprovides intelligence on corruption cases and is also involved in promoting Cambodia’s
three-pronged national strategy to promote anti-corruption education, lead prevention andobstruction efforts in the public and private sectors, and enhance law enforcement throughprofessional skills training.
6. INDONESIA: The “all-hands-on-deck” strategy (multi-agency approach) to countering
corruption involves three institutions: the Attorney General’s Office, the Indonesian
National Police and the Commission on Eradication of Corruption (KPK). Using UNCAC,UNTOC and Law No. 1/2006 on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters as a legal basis,Indonesia engages in formal cooperation (MLA and extradition) and informal cooperation
based on mutual understanding and reciprocity. The presentation introduced Indonesia’s
principles of providing MLA, the scope of assistance in criminal matters, the process for
executing incoming requests, etc. The “Garuda Affair” – a case involving bribery, otherforms of gratification and money-laundering that dissipated the assets of a state-owned
enterprise – was introduced as a case study on the use of MLA to investigate and prosecute
multijurisdictional corruption. The investigation involved six jurisdictions, several formal
requests and numerous informal requests, resulting in the imprisonment of the perpetrators,
the recovery of millions of dollars and the imposition of nearly 4 billion Euro in fines leviedon the private sector companies involved in the corruption scheme.
7. LAO PDR: While the Anti-Corruption Law criminalized corruption and related acts in 2012,
Lao PDR did not have a clear legal framework for MLA. With the increasing number oftransnational crimes, including all forms of illicit trafficking, corruption and moneylaundering, the Law on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters was enacted in 2020
to establish clear regulations and procedures for MLA. Under the new law, the Office of
the Supreme People’s Prosecutor (OSPP) serves as the Central Authority and directs theexecution of requests. The most common forms of assistance include document
certification, taking testimony, identifying bank accounts, providing documents, collecting
evidence, and seizing, freezing and confiscating assets. As Viet Nam and Thailand accountfor most of Lao PDR’s received MLA requests, the importance of enhancing cross-bordercooperation with neighbouring countries was emphasized. To fight corruption domestically,
the Law on State Inspection empowers the State Inspection Authority (SIA) to conduct
investigations and audits of government agencies, officials and state-owned enterprises, aswell as promote the National Anti-Corruption Strategy among the general public.
Importantly, the SIA was declared an independent organization in 2021 and now reports- 13 -- 13 -

directly to the President of the State.
8. MALAYSIA: The formal process for incoming and outgoing MLA requests in Malaysia isestablished under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (MACMA), under which
the Attorney General is designated to serve as the Central Authority. MACMA applies to“serious offenses” punishable by one year or more of imprisonment. A number ofsuccessful cases were introduced, demonstrating the value of inter-agency cooperation andteam-based approaches in conducting investigations and engaging in asset recovery.
Likewise, the importance of utilizing informal channels to enhance MLA was stressed, andMalaysia actively pursues MOUs with agencies to facilitate communication andcooperation. Despite Malaysia’s many successes, challenges to MLA remain, such as a lackof an effective legal basis for cooperation, language barriers, insufficient responses,
traditional grounds for refusal, etc. To overcome these challenges, practitioners areencouraged to build strong networks and relationships, improve request-writing skills,
enhance the use of informal channels and create mechanisms to effectively monitor the
status of requests.
9. PHILIPPINES: While the Philippines has no organic law on MLA, it has a variety of lawsthat establish the principles relating to international cooperation. The Department of Justiceserves as the Central Authority and is responsible for the handling of all requests. The
Office of the Ombudsman is an independent agency that plays the role of watchdog in orderto detect, investigate, prosecute and prevent corruption. The Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam was introduced to demonstrate how the Ombudsman’s
office investigates and disrupts large-scale corruption in the Philippines and uses bothinformal and formal channels to trace the flow of proceeds transferred to foreign countries.
Despite successes, many challenges to MLA remain, including misunderstandings thatdelay and duplicate work. Other challenges include the lack of a domestic law, differencesin legal framework, language barriers, lack of resources and lack of familiarity with MLA.
The Philippines works to overcome these challenges primarily through training. Thus,
enhancing capacity-building and multisectoral cooperation to combat corruption wererecommended as key efforts to enhance MLA.
10. SINGAPORE: The primary legislation governing MLA in Singapore is the Mutual Assistancein Criminal Matters Act, and Singapore has a bilateral MLAT with the United States andis a party to the ASEAN MLAT. The key actors in the field of MLA are the Attorney
General’s Chambers (the Central Authority), the Ministry of Law and other operational andlaw enforcement agencies (including the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB)).
Over the last three to four years, the number of incoming and outgoing requests has
increased by roughly 46 per cent. As a measure to enhance efficiency of handling requests,
the AGC has templates available online to facilitate request writing, and Singapore is now
looking into using software to create an automated process to handle requests. The
presentation also introduced informal assistance, agency-to-agency cooperation andparallel investigation, as well as the voluntary repatriation of assets from foreign
jurisdictions, as useful forms of assistance.
11. THAILAND: The legal basis for MLA includes a number of laws, particularly the Act on
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA Act), under which Thailand may provide
assistance with or without an MLAT. The Attorney General or his or her designee serves
as the Central Authority. While this seems flexible, it can complicate and delay the MLA
process due the increased need for paperwork, translation etc. to confirm that the Attorney- 14 -- 14 -

General has duly designated a subordinate to serve as the Central Authority in certain cases.
Language was also presented as a challenge due to the high cost of preparing translations.
In Thailand, criminal investigations are, in principle, conducted by the Royal Thai Police;prosecutors only have jurisdiction to conduct investigations in certain complex cases.
However, Thailand has established specialized anti-corruption prosecutors at the Office of
the Attorney General (OAG). Thailand endeavours to apply a flexible approach to dual
criminality in which this element will be deemed fulfilled if the conduct is criminalized in
Thailand. In addition to stressing the value of informal consultations, requesting States areencouraged to send a draft request for informal review before submitting the formal request.
12. TIMOR-LESTE: The Anti-Corruption Commission was established in 2009 to prevent andcombat corruption. A fraud case and an embezzlement case were introduced to demonstrate
the challenges Timor-Leste faces in dealing with corrupt actors who flee the country toevade justice, particularly among individuals who have dual citizenship. While TimorLeste’s constitution permits extradition, Timor-Leste is not a party to any bilateral or
multilateral treaties other than UNCAC. To enhance its anti-corruption activities, TimorLeste embraces cooperation with foreign jurisdictions through anti-corruption,
investigation and training agencies. Domestically, efforts need to be enhanced to take anational teamwork approach to preventing and combating corruption.
13. VIET NAM: The legal basis for MLA in Viet Nam is based on the 2007 Law on Mutual
Legal Assistance, the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code and the 2014 Law on Organizationof People’s Procuracy. These laws regulate the principles, duties and procedures relating
to international cooperation and mutual legal assistance. The Supreme People’s Procuracy(SPP) is designated as the Central Authority for MLA. The presentation reviewed principles,grounds for refusal, required contents, and procedures for submitting MLA requests.
Regarding language, if a treaty exists, requests may be submitted in the language specified
in the treaty, whereas non-treaty-based requests must be accompanied by a Vietnamesetranslation. Viet Nam received 549 requests for assistance in criminal matters in 2021, an
increase of 12% over the previous year. Recent trends in MLA include the presence of thecompetent person of the requesting State in the process of the request’s execution in therequested State, requests for confiscation of proceeds or instrumentalities of crime and theuse of videoconferencing. Recommendations for strengthening the effectiveness of MLA
include strengthening direct contact among central authorities, ensuring that requests
contain sufficient information and promptly sending requests so that the requested State
has sufficient time to resolve the case and participating in international training courses andseminars to share best practices.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
14. As corruption has become increasingly transnational in nature, effective MLA practices
have become urgently necessary to ensure that those who engage in corruption do not evade
justice and that their illicit proceeds are traced, confiscated and recovered. Since entering
into effect in 2005, UNCAC has played a vital role in improving the global standard for
MLA frameworks and practices, disseminating good practices, and promoting capacitybuilding to enhance knowledge and skills. As seen during this seminar, the success of
UNCAC is reflected in Cambodia’s and Lao PDR’s persistent efforts leading to theadoption of their first domestic laws on MLA procedures.

- 15 -- 15 -

15. However, in the field of MLA, many practical obstacles and challenges remain. These
include, among others: (i) the lack of clear MLA frameworks, albeit in a declining numberof jurisdictions; (ii) underutilization of informal channels, consultations and agency-toagency cooperation; (iii) the time-consuming nature of MLA, (iv) language barriers; (v)issues of dual criminality; (vi) lack of knowledge about the MLA-related laws andprocedures of requested States.
16. During the meeting, the participants shared ideas on overcoming the challenges that hinderor reduce the effectiveness of MLA. To enhance the effectiveness of MLA, State parties
are invited to consider the following recommendations:A. Cognizant of the obligation imposed on State parties to cooperate in criminal matters(Art. 43) and to provide the “widest measure of mutual legal assistance” (Art. 46),
create or continually review and improve the foundational legal bases for MLA;
B. Utilize informal channels to share leads and intelligence;
C. Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of MLA requests through the use of informal
consultations and by sharing the draft request before submitting a formal request;
D. Actively seek out opportunities for cross-border, agency-to-agency cooperation
through methods such as parallel investigations, joint investigations and permanentworking groups;
E. Explore options to overcome language barriers, including bilateral translation
arrangements, the use of technology and the use of online MLA forms and requestwriting tools;
F. Explore cooperation in civil and administrative matters relating to corruption;
G. In line with Article 43 of UNCAC, apply the concept of dual (double) criminality as
broadly as possible by deeming it fulfilled when the same conduct is criminalized in
the requested State, regardless of the name or category of the offence;
H. Enhance international and domestic efforts aimed toward capacity-building andknowledge sharing and building strong professional networks among MLA
practitioners.

22 DECEMBER 2021
TOKYO, JAPAN (ONLINE)- 16 -- 16 -

COMPARATIVE LIST OF MLA SYSTEMS
Source: The information presented in this table was collected by online survey of the participants of UNAFEI's 15th Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries. In the few cases where
responses from participants of the same country were inconsistent, the reported information was cross-referenced with other available resources (marked by an asterisk (*)). "2012 data" was collected during
the 6th Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries.
Compulsory

MLA

Treatyjudicial

Domestic

required tointervention

law

providepossible

MLA?

without a

Central
UNCAC as a

ASEAN

legal basis

MLAT(receivingfor MLA?

member?

treaty-based
requests)

treaty?

BRN

KHM

Authority

Office /channel(receiving
non-treatybased
requests)

CentralAuthority(sending
treaty-based
requests)

Office /Competent

channelauthorities(sending

involved in

non-treaty-

executing

based

MLA

requests)

requests?

MutualNarcotics

Assistance inControlCriminal
Matters

No (with
reciprocity)

No

Yes

Yes

AGC

AGC

AGC

AGC

Bureau, ACB,Royal Brunei

Order, 2005

Police Force

Law onThe court,

Mutual Legal

Dual

Languages

criminality(for receiving

required?

requests)

No, but AG
accept therequest on

Englishgrounds

Required for

Both English

coerciveand Khmer

Criminal

relevant

measuresrequired*

Matters

authorities

Yes, always

Indonesia,

Yes

Yes

Yes

MOJ

MOJ

MOJ

MOJ

Yes

these

and other

Yes

based
confiscation

may refuse to

PPO, ACU,

Assistance inNonconviction-

Case by case

Law No1/2006 on

IDN

Mutual Legal

No (with

Assistance inreciprocity)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ministry of

Ministry of

Ministry of

Ministry of

Law andLaw andLaw andLaw and

Human Rights Human Rights Human Rights Human Rights

Criminal

INP, AGO,
KPK

BahasaYes

English*Matters
Law onJPN

Interational
Assistance inInvestigation

No (with
reciprocity)

Yes

Yes

No

MOJ

MOFA

MOJ, NPA

MOFA(1980)

MOJ, PPO,

Yes

NPA,

(but treaty-

Prefectural

based

Policeexceptions)Japanese(accompanied
by English

Noversionappreciated)

MPS(central/local

Law onLAO

Mutual Legal
Assistance in
Criminallevel), SPP
No (with
reciprocity)

Yes*

Yes

Yes

SPP*

MOFA, SPP

SPP*

SPP

(central/local
level), MOJ,
MOFA, SIA

Matters

Yes, unless
not required

Lao, English

No

BahasaMalaysia,
English*Yesby treaty(In case ofcorruption)

MYS

MutualAssistance In
Criminal
Matters Act
2002

No (with
reciprocity)

Yes

Yes

Yes

AGC

AGC

AGC

AGC

MACC, Royal
Police Force of
Malaysia etc

Yes, unless
not requiredby treaty*

DOJ, OMB(only forState Parties

PHL

None

No (with
reciprocity)

No

Yes

Yes

DOJ

in theabsence ofbilateraltreaty with
the PH)- 17 -

DOJ, OMB,DOJ, OMB

to UNCAC or(only forState Parties
to UNCAC)

National
DOJ

Bureau ofInvestigation,
AMLC

No

Tagalog,
EnglishYesCompulsory

MLA

Treatyjudicial

Domestic

required tointervention

law

providepossible

MLA?

without a

Central
UNCAC as a

ASEANAuthority

legal basis

MLAT(receivingfor MLA?

member?

treaty-based
requests)

treaty?

Office /channel(receiving
non-treatybased
requests)

Office /Competent

channelauthorities(sending

involved in

non-treaty-

executing

based

MLA

requests)

requests?

CentralAuthority(sending
treaty-based
requests)

Dual

Languages

criminality(for receiving

required?

requests)

Nonconvictionbased
confiscation

MutualAssistance in

SGP

Criminal

No (with

Matters Act

reciprocity)

Yes

Yes

Yes

(Cap 190A,

Attorney-

Attorney-

Attorney-

Attorney-

General's

General's

General's

General's

Chambers

Chambers

Chambers

Chambers

AGC; Ministryof Law;
Relevant
LEAs

Yes, forcertain types

EnglishYes

Thai, English

Yes

of assistance2001 Rev Ed)
Act on Mutual

THA

Assistance in
Criminal
Matters B.E.

The Office of The Office of The Office of The Office ofNo (with
reciprocity)

Yes

Yes, with thereciprocity

Yes2535 (1992)

the Attorney

the Attorney

the Attorney

the Attorney

General of

General of

General of

General of

ThailandThailandThailandThailandRoyal Thai
Police, Amlo,
DSI, NACC,

Yes, always

PACC, OAG,
DOC
Português,
Tetum

TLS

N/A

Yes

N/A

No

No

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

No

(official);
English,No

Indonesian(working)
SPP, MPS,
PPO,

VNM

The 2007 Law
on Mutual
Legal
Assistance

Investigation
No (with
reciprocity)

Yes

Yes

Yes

SPP

MOFA

SPP

MOFA

Offices andPeople's

As specified
Yes, always

Courts at alllevels of Viet
Nam

List of Acronyms
ACB

Anti-Corruption Bureau (Brunei)

MOHA

AGC

Attorney General's Chambers

MOJ

Ministry of Justice

AGO

Attorney General's Office

MPS

Ministry of Public Security

AMLO

Anti-Money-Laundering Office (Thailand)

NACC

National Anti-Corruption Commission (Thailand)

DOC

Department of Corrections

NPA

National Police Agency

DOJ

Department of Justice

OAG

Office of the Attorney General

DSI

Department of Special Investigation (Thailand)

PACC

Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (Thailand)

Ministry of Home Affairs

INP

Indonesian National Police

PPO

Public Prosecutors' Office

KPK

Commission for the Eradication of Corruption (Indonesia)

SPP

Supreme People's Prosecutor

LEA

Law Enforcement Agency

MACC

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission

MOFA

Ministry of Foreign Affairs- 18 -

in treaty; orVietnameseNo