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International Society for Reform of Criminal Law
28/06/2005
International co-operation between criminal justice
systems will be the subject of debate at today's sessions
of The International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law
conference in Edinburgh.
Judges, lawyers and academics from 40 countries around
the world will examine the relationships between
prosecution and police authorities and other criminal
justice partners, looking at both the way these
relationships work within a country, and on a global
scale.
Scotland has always had a very important role to play in
working with other countries to help tackle crimes abroad,
and some of these experiences will be shared at today's
debates.
Staff in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal
Service's international co-operation unit are in regular
contact with criminal justice partners around the world.
It's not just the headline-grabbing extradition cases that
they deal with, they also form the contact between Scottish
victims and witnesses to foreign crimes and the appropriate
authority abroad.
Norman McFadyen, Scotland's Crown Agent, is chairing a
session on international co-operation.
Mr McFadyen said:
"In today's world, when crime is international, our
response to it must be international as well. In Crown
Office we have an International Co-operation Unit, which is
skilled and experienced in seeking and providing assistance
in cases with an international dimension.
"Co-operation can be at an investigation stage, when
prosecutors in Scotland are seeking evidence from another
country, or it can involve witnesses from foreign countries
travelling to Scotland to give evidence. It obviously works
both ways, and Scottish authorities are always anxious to
help their foreign counterparts in appropriate cases.
"International co-operation also includes the
extradition process, where individuals wanted in another
country can be arrested and surrendered subject to suitable
safeguards."
ISRCL is a non-governmental association of judges,
legislators, lawyers, academics and governmental officials
who come together to work actively on the administration of
criminal justice, both in their own jurisdictions and
internationally.
The 2005 ISRCL conference opened in Edinburgh on Sunday
and runs until Thursday.