October 17, 2001

U.S. AND ROMANIA SIGN AGREEMENT TO FIGHT CRIME

United States Ambassador Michael Guest and Cristian Diaconescu, State Secretary in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday signed a Protocol of Exchange, which brings the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the U.S. and Romania into force. The Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which has already been ratified by the U.S. Senate and Romania's Parliament, will help coordinate the two countries' efforts to fight international crime. Under the agreement Romanian and U.S. law enforcement officials will be able to request and obtain evidence required for important criminal prosecutions in each other's countries.

According to the U.S. Ambassador Guest, "In the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, a large-scale criminal investigation is now underway to find the perpetrators of these crimes and to prevent further attacks on innocent people. This is the type of investigation the MLAT is intended to cover. For example, it would allow the exchange of testimony and documents, the identification of persons, the transfer of persons, the ability to conduct searches and seizures on behalf of the partner country, permit assistance in forfeiture or seizure cases or in the collection of fines, and other assistance not prohibited by the laws of the nation responding to the request," said the Ambassador.

There are limitations under the agreement. The requested state can deny assistance if the offense falls under military law and would not be an offense under civilian law, if the request would be detrimental to a state's national security, or if the request is considered a political one by the requested state. The requested state also has the right to ask that the information be kept confidential, and can deny the request if this cannot be agreed to by the requesting country. It can also insist that the information only be used for the purposes of the request, and not for any other purpose.

In the U.S., the Attorney General will serve as the point of contact for the Treaty, while in Romania the Minister of Justice will administer the treaty.