RAPPORTEUR GROUP

Legal co-operation

31 October 2019[1]

European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters
(ETS No. 30) –

Request by Mongolia to be invited to accede

Item to be considered by the GR-J at its meeting on 26 November 2019

1. By letter dated 10 May 2019, received and registered at the Secretariat General on 25 June 2019, Mr Damdin TSOGTBAATAR, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, informed the Secretary General about the wish of the Government of Mongolia to be invited to accede to:

• the European Convention on Extradition (ETS No. 24), and

• the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (ETS No. 30) (see Appendix 1).

2. According to Article 30, paragraph 1, of the Convention on Extradition, to Article 28, paragraph 1, of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and in line with the practice of the Council of Europe, the Secretariat proceeded to a consultation of member States of the Council of Europe and non-member States which are Contracting States to these Conventions, requesting them to communicate to the Secretariat whether their authorities would object to the accession of Mongolia to the European Convention on Extradition and/or to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters if the request to be invited to accede was formally submitted to the Committee of Ministers. The deadline for replying was 26 August 2019. Following the request of some delegations, the original deadline was extended to 18 October 2019.

3. Concerning the European Convention on Extradition (ETS No. 24), objections were raised during the consultations. Considering that the provision governing the invitation of a non-member State to accede to this Convention (Article 30) requires the unanimous agreement of the members States of the Council of Europe which have ratified this Convention, it would not be possible to identify the majorities necessary to invite Mongolia to accede to the European Convention on Extradition. The procedure is therefore stopped as regards this Convention.

4. As for the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (ETS No. 30), no objection was communicated to the Secretariat.

5. The relevant provisions of this Convention can be summarised as follows.

a. Summary of the Convention

6. The European Conventionon Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters was opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, on 20 April 1959. It entered into force on 12 June 1962. The chart of signatures and ratifications appears in Appendix 2.

7. Under the Convention, the Parties agree to afford each other the widest measure of mutual assistance with a view to gathering evidence, hearing witnesses, experts and prosecuted persons, etc. The Convention sets out rules for the enforcement of letters rogatory by the authorities of a Party ("requested Party") which aim to procure evidence (audition of witnesses, experts and prosecuted persons, service of writs and records of judicial verdicts) or to communicate the evidence (records or documents) in the framework of criminal proceedings undertaken by the judicial authorities of another Party ("requesting Party"). The Convention also specifies the requirements that requests for mutual assistance and letters rogatory have to meet (transmitting authorities, languages, refusal of mutual assistance).

8. The Convention has been complemented by two protocols: the Additional Protocol (ETS No. 99) which was opened for signature on 17 March 1978 and entered into force on 12 April 1982, and the Second Additional Protocol (ETS No. 182) which was opened for signature on 8 November 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2004. States having acceded to the Convention are entitled to accede to the protocols thereto without having to receive an invitation by the Committee of Ministers to that effect.

b. Procedure for accession

9. Article 28, paragraph 1, of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters stipulates as follows:

“The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any State not a member of the Council to accede to this Convention, provided that the resolution containing such invitation obtains the unanimous agreement of the members of the Council who have ratified the Convention."

10. Given the above, the Deputies may wish to invite Mongolia to accede to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 030

European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters

Status as of 18/10/2019

Title	European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters
Reference	ETS No.030
Opening of the treaty	Strasbourg, 20/04/1959 - Treaty open for signature by the member States and for accession by non-member States
Entry into Force	12/06/1962 - 3 Ratifications.

Members of Council of Europe

	Signature	Ratification	Entry into Force	Notes	R.	D.	A.	T.	C.	O.
Albania	19/05/1998	04/04/2000	03/07/2000		R.	D.
Andorra	15/06/2004	26/04/2005	25/07/2005		R.	D.	A.
Armenia	11/05/2001	25/01/2002	25/04/2002		R.	D.	A.
Austria	20/04/1959	02/10/1968	31/12/1968		R.	D.	A.			O.
Azerbaijan	07/11/2001	04/07/2003	02/10/2003		R.	D.	A.
Belgium	20/04/1959	13/08/1975	11/11/1975		R.	D.	A.
Bosnia and Herzegovina	30/04/2004	25/04/2005	24/07/2005
Bulgaria	30/09/1993	17/06/1994	15/09/1994		R.	D.	A.
Croatia	07/05/1999	07/05/1999	05/08/1999			D.	A.
Cyprus	27/03/1996	24/02/2000	24/05/2000		R.	D.
Czech Republic	13/02/1992	15/04/1992	01/01/1993	17		D.	A.
Denmark	20/04/1959	13/09/1962	12/12/1962		R.	D.	A.
Estonia	04/11/1993	28/04/1997	27/07/1997		R.	D.	A.
Finland		29/01/1981 a	29/04/1981		R.	D.	A.
France	28/04/1961	23/05/1967	21/08/1967		R.	D.	A.	T.
Georgia	27/04/1999	13/10/1999	11/01/2000		R.	D.	A.
Germany	20/04/1959	02/10/1976	01/01/1977			D.	A.	T.
Greece	20/04/1959	23/02/1962	12/06/1962		R.
Hungary	19/11/1991	13/07/1993	11/10/1993		R.	D.	A.
Iceland	27/09/1982	20/06/1984	18/09/1984		R.	D.	A.
Ireland	15/10/1996	28/11/1996	26/02/1997		R.	D.	A.			O.
Italy	20/04/1959	23/08/1961	12/06/1962			D.	A.
Latvia	30/10/1996	02/06/1997	31/08/1997			D.	A.
Liechtenstein		28/10/1969 a	26/01/1970		R.
Lithuania	09/11/1994	17/04/1997	16/07/1997		R.	D.	A.
Luxembourg	20/04/1959	18/11/1976	16/02/1977		R.	D.	A.
Malta	06/09/1993	03/03/1994	01/06/1994		R.	D.	A.
Monaco	19/03/2007	19/03/2007	17/06/2007		R.	D.
Montenegro		30/09/2002 a	06/06/2006	54
Netherlands	21/01/1965	14/02/1969	15/05/1969		R.	D.	A.	T.
North Macedonia	28/07/1999	28/07/1999	26/10/1999
Norway	21/04/1961	14/03/1962	12/06/1962		R.	D.	A.
Poland	09/05/1994	19/03/1996	17/06/1996			D.	A.
Portugal	10/05/1979	27/09/1994	26/12/1994			D.	A.		C.
Republic of Moldova	02/05/1996	04/02/1998	05/05/1998		R.	D.	A.
Romania	30/06/1995	17/03/1999	15/06/1999			D.	A.
Russian Federation	07/11/1996	10/12/1999	09/03/2000		R.	D.	A.
San Marino	29/09/2000	18/03/2009	16/06/2009		R.	D.	A.
Serbia		30/09/2002 a	29/12/2002	54	R.	D.	A.
Slovak Republic	13/02/1992	15/04/1992	01/01/1993	17		D.	A.
Slovenia	26/02/1999	19/07/2001	17/10/2001			D.	A.
Spain	24/07/1979	18/08/1982	16/11/1982		R.	D.	A.			O.
Sweden	20/04/1959	01/02/1968	01/05/1968		R.	D.	A.
Switzerland	29/11/1965	20/12/1966	20/03/1967		R.	D.	A.
Turkey	23/10/1959	24/06/1969	22/09/1969			D.
Ukraine	29/05/1997	11/03/1998	09/06/1998		R.	D.	A.
United Kingdom	21/06/1991	29/08/1991	27/11/1991		R.	D.	A.

Non-members of the Council of Europe

	Signature	Ratification	Entry into Force	Notes	R.	D.	A.	T.	C.	O.
Brazil
Chile		30/05/2011 a	28/08/2011		R.	D.	A.
Israel		27/09/1967 a	26/12/1967		R.	D.	A.
Republic of Korea		29/09/2011 a	29/12/2011		R.	D.
South Africa

Total number of signatures not followed by ratifications	0
Total number of ratifications/accessions	50

Notes

(17) Dates of signature and ratification by the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

(54) Date of accession by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.

a: Accession s: Signature without reservation as to ratification su: Succession r: Signature "ad referendum". R.: Reservations D.: Declarations, Denunciations, Derogations A.: Authorities T.: Territorial Application C.: Communication O.: Objection.

Source : Treaty Office on http://conventions.coe.int - * Disclaimer.

[1] This document has been classified restricted at the date of issue; it will be declassified in accordance with Resolution Res(2001)6 on access to Council of Europe documents.