Characteristics of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT)

AEF

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) are agreements between two or more countries for the purpose of cooperating in law enforcement and investigating criminal offenses. MLATs establish procedures for the exchange of information and evidence between the participating countries. Here are the three characteristics of MLAT:

A. MLAT cooperatively combats crime between countries: One of the main purposes of MLATs is to combat crime cooperatively between countries. By sharing information and evidence, countries can more effectively investigate and prosecute criminal offenses that cross international borders.

D. MLATs are useful for gathering evidence and intelligence in a foreign country: MLATs allow law enforcement agencies to gather evidence and intelligence in foreign countries. This can be especially useful in cases where the evidence needed to investigate a crime is located in another country.

E. MLATs are neither public nor binding under international law: While MLATs are agreements between countries, they are not public documents and are not binding under international law. However, they are generally considered to be legally binding between the countries that have signed them.

Answer B is incorrect because MLATs do provide a legal basis for transmitting evidence. Answer C is incorrect because MLATs can be used for obtaining banking records from treaty partners. Answer F is incorrect because MLATs can involve more than two countries.