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The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation assembled in Congress, etc. sanction with force of Law:
ARTICLE 1 Appropriate the JUDICIAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT IN PENAL MATERIA BETWEEN THE ARGENTINA REPUBLIC AND THE PORTUGUESA REPUBLIC, signed in Lisbon .REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA. on 7 April 2003, which consists of VEINTIDOS (22) articles, whose authenticated photocopy is part of this law. ARTICLE 2 Contact the national executive branch.IN THE SESSION OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN GOOD AIRES, TO THE THREE DAYS OF THE YEAR TWO MIL OCHO.
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JULY C. C. COBOS. EDUARDO A. FELLNER. . Enrique Hidalgo. . Juan H. Estrada.
AGREEMENT OF JUDICIAL MUSIC ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATERIA BETWEEN THE ARGENTINA REPUBLIC AND THE PORTUGUESA
The Argentine Republic and the Portuguese Republic, henceforth called "the Parties".
Wishing to maintain and strengthen the ties that bind both countries and to enhance mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Agree to the following:
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Obligation to grant Mutual Assistance
1.- The Parties undertake, in accordance with this Agreement, to provide the widest mutual assistance in criminal matters.
2.- Mutual Assistance shall mean, for the purposes of paragraph 1 or, the assistance provided by the requested State in investigations, prosecutions or proceedings in criminal matters to a competent authority of the requesting State.
3.- The authority responsible for investigations, prosecutions or proceedings in criminal matters, in accordance with the domestic legislation of the requesting State, is referred to as the competent authority of the requesting State.
4.- The term "several criminal matters used in paragraph 1 refers to investigations or procedures relating to offences established in the criminal law of both Parties, although the respective laws differently characterize the constituent elements of the offence, or use the same or different legal terminology. Criminal matters shall include investigations, prosecutions or procedures relating to tax, customs, currency control or other financial or fiscal matters.
5.- Assistance shall be granted even if the facts subject to investigation or procedure in the requesting State are not criminalized by the laws of the requested State. However, where the assistance required was the enforcement of embargo, kidnapping and house search measures, it would be necessary for the act requesting it to be also considered an offence under the laws of the requested State.
Article 2
Object and Scope of Assistance
1.- Assistance will include:
(a) Localization and identification of persons;
(b) Notification of judicial acts and notification and delivery of documents;
(c) providing documents and other archive information;
(d) Providing documents, files, objects and evidence;
(e) The taking of persons in the requested State;
(f) The taking of statements by persons detained and other persons in the requesting State;
(g) The search for and abduction of property, including house searches;
(h) Measures to locate, seize and confiscate proceeds of crime and to execute pecuniary penalties for an offence;
(i) Any other form of assistance shall be provided in the terms of this Agreement, provided that it is not incompatible with the law of the requested State.
2.- Assistance shall not include:
(a) the arrest or detention of any person for the purpose of extradition;
(b) the transfer of convicted persons to serve sentence.
Article 3
Implementation of requests
1.- Requests for assistance shall be executed promptly and in the manner in which they are required by the requesting State, provided that they do not object to the law of the requested State and do not cause serious harm to those concerned in the process.
2.- The requested State shall, at the request of the requesting State, report to it the date and place of execution.
Article 4
Denial and postponement of assistance
1.- Judicial assistance may be rejected if the request:
(a) refers to political or related offences with such offences, in the opinion of the requested State;
(b) refers to strictly military offences and is not also an offence under ordinary criminal law;
(c) relates to the prosecution of an offence in respect of which the person has finally been acquitted or pardoned or has complied with the sentence imposed on him;
(d) contains a solid basis for believing that the requirement has been made to facilitate the persecution of a person on grounds of race, religion, sex, nationality or opinion, or that the procedural situation of that person may be adversely affected by any of these reasons;
(e) may affect the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests of the requested State.
2.- For the purposes of numeral 1, inc. (a), this article shall not be regarded as offences of a political nature:
(a) War crimes and crimes against humanity;
(b) Attacks on the life, body or liberty of a head of State or Government, or a member of his family;
(c) Attacks on the life, body or freedom of diplomatic or other internationally protected persons;
(d) Attacks on the life, body or freedom of the population or of innocent civilian personnel not engaged in violence caused by an armed conflict;
(e) Offences against aviation safety or civil or commercial navigation;
(f) acts of terrorism; and
(g) Offences for which an international treaty obligation to extradite or prosecute has been assumed.
3.- Assistance may be postponed if the execution of the request interferes with the progress of an investigation or a process in the requested State.
4.- The requested State shall promptly inform the requesting State immediately of its decision not to comply in whole or in part with the request for assistance, or to postpone its execution and give its reasons for this decision.
5.- Before refusing assistance, or before deferring its grant, the requested State shall consider whether it may be granted subject to the conditions it deems necessary. If the requesting State accepts the assistance subject to these conditions, the requested State shall comply with the same.
Article 5
Transmission of requests for assistance
1.- Requests for assistance shall be received and transmitted through diplomatic channels or through designated Central Authorities.
2.- Each Party shall designate a Central Authority. The Central Authority for the Argentine Republic will be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship and the Portuguese Republic will be the Ministry of Justice
PART II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS
Article 6
Location or identification of persons
The competent authorities of the requested State shall make every effort to ascertain the whereabouts and identity of the persons mentioned in the request.
Article 7
Document notification
1.- The requested State shall undertake any notification relating to the request for assistance.
2.- The requesting State shall transmit any request for notification of documents, relating to a response or appearance in its territory sufficiently in advance of the date set for such reply or appearance.
3.- The requested State shall return a proof of the notification in the manner established by the requesting State.
4.- If the notification cannot be made, the reasons that determined it will be indicated.
Article 8
Transmission of Documents and Objects
1.- Where the request for assistance relates to the transmission of backgrounds and documents, the requested State may submit authenticated copies of such copies, unless the requesting State expressly requests the originals.
2.- Background, original documents or objects referred to the requesting State shall be returned, as soon as possible, at the request of the requested State.
3.- Where it is not prohibited by the laws of the requested State, the record, documents or objects shall be accompanied by a certification as requested by the requesting State, so that they may be accepted by the law of the latter.
Article 9
Presence of Persons involved in Processes in the requested State
1.- Any person in the requested State and who requests his or her testimony, the submission of documents, background or other evidence, shall be obliged, if necessary by a summons or order to appear to testify and present such documentation, background or other objects, in accordance with the law of the requested State.
2.- The requested State shall authorize the presence during the completion of the request of the persons indicated therein, and shall allow them to propose questions in accordance with the law of the requested State.
Article 10
Availability of persons to make statements or collaborate in investigations in the requesting State
1.- The requesting State may request the presence in its territory of a person to testify as a witness or to collaborate in an investigation, provided that the law of the requested State authorizes it.
2.- The requested State shall comply with the notification, after ensuring that:
(a) The appropriate measures were taken for the security of the person.
(b) The person whose presence is requested gives his consent through a freely written statement.
(c) Conminatory measures or sanctions specified in the notification shall not be affected.
3.- The request for compliance with the request in the terms of paragraph 1 of this article shall indicate the remuneration and compensation, the travel and accommodation costs to be granted by the requesting State.
Article 11
Search and Abduction of Goods
1.- The requested State shall, to the extent permitted by its laws, carry out requirements for the search, abduction and surrender of any object to the requesting State, provided that the requirement contains information necessary to justify such action under the laws of the requested State.
2.- The requested State shall provide the information requested by the requesting State relating to the outcome of any search, location and circumstances of the abduction and subsequent custody of the assets abducted.
3.- The requesting State shall observe any condition imposed on it by the requested State in relation to the assets that are seized from it.
Article 12
Availability of detained persons to provide Declaration or collaborate in research
1.- At the request of the requesting State, a detainee may be transferred from the requested State on a temporary basis to the requesting State to provide a statement or to assist in the investigations.
2.- The requested State shall not transfer a detainee to the requesting State unless the detainee consents.
3.- Whereas the sentence in the requested State has not expired, the requesting State shall keep the detainee in custody and shall return him to the requested State upon completion of the procedures for which his transfer was requested, or as soon as his presence is no longer necessary.
4.- If the penalty imposed on a person transferred under this article expires while it is in the territory of the requesting State, it shall be subject to the status of persons provided for in article 10 and shall be granted the immunities provided for in article 13.
Article 13
Immunities
1.- A person, who, in the terms of article 12, paragraph 3, is in the requesting State in response to a request to obtain his presence, shall not be persecuted, detained or subjected to any other restriction of personal liberty in that State, for acts or omissions prior to the departure of that person from the requested State, nor shall he be obliged to testify in another process other than that in which he was summoned.
2.- Paragraph 1 of this article shall not apply if the person, having the freedom to leave the requesting State, has not done so within a period of thirty (30) days after having been formally notified that his presence is no longer necessary or, having been carried out, has voluntarily returned.
3.- Persons who are not present to the requesting State shall not be subject to sanctions or compulsive measures in the requested State.
Article 14
Crime products and instruments
1.- As soon as its legislation is authorized, the requested State shall, at the request of the requesting State, make every effort to ascertain whether the proceeds of an offence and the instruments to which it has been committed are within its jurisdiction, and shall notify the results of the investigations to the other State. In making the request, the requesting State shall inform the reasons why it considers that such proceeds and instruments of the offence may be found in its jurisdiction.
2.- Where the proceeds of the crime suspected to exist are found in paragraph 1 of this article, the requested State shall take the necessary measures permitted by its legislation to seize, abduct or confiscate these products.
3.- The confiscated property shall be disposed of by the requested State in accordance with its own legislation and with respect to the rights of third parties. To the extent that the respective laws permit, either Party may transfer such assets, or proceeds of disposal to the other Party.
4.- For the purposes of this article, the concept of proceeds of crime includes assets and physical assets obtained directly or indirectly as a result of the commission of an offence.
PART III
PROCEDURES
Article 15
Form and content of requests
1.- The request for assistance shall be made in writing, and in all cases shall include:
(a) Identification of the competent requesting authority;
(b) the description of the matter and the nature of the investigation, prosecution or prosecution, with reference to the specific offences to which the matter relates;
(c) In the case of the transfer of detained persons, the person or category of persons who shall be held in custody during the transfer, the place to which the person is to be transferred and the date on which he or she shall be returned.
2.- If the requested State considers that the information of the requirement is not sufficient to enable it to be processed, it shall request the requesting State to provide further information.
3.- In cases of urgency the request for assistance may be transmitted by telex, facsimile, e-mail or similar, and must be confirmed in writing within ten (10) days following the formulation of the request.
Article 16
Confidential Character
1.- The requested State may request that the information or evidence provided under this Agreement shall be confidential in accordance with the conditions specified by that State. In such a case, the requesting State shall make every effort to comply with the specified conditions.
2.- To the extent requested, the requested State shall consider confidential the request, its content, the supporting documentation and any action taken pursuant to that requirement.
3.- If the request cannot be fulfilled without violating this confidential nature, the requested State shall inform the requesting State that it shall decide whether the request shall be met.
Article 17
Limits to the use of evidence and evidence
The requesting State may not disclose or use the information or evidence provided for other purposes other than those specified in the request, without the prior consent of the requested State.
Article 18
Certification
The evidence or documents referred under this Agreement shall not require any certification, legalization or formality, except as specified in Article 8.
Article 19
Language
The request for assistance, documents and acts which are provided for in this Agreement shall be written in the language of the requesting State and accompanied by a translation in the language of the requested State.
Article 20
Expenditure
1.- The requested State shall bear the cost related to the requirement of assistance.
2.- Nevertheless, the requesting State shall bear:
(a) Expenditure relating to the transfer of any person to provide a statement in the cases provided for in articles 9, 10 and 12 and any compensation or expenses payable to such person on the occasion of the transfer, the person being informed that the expenses and compensation are to be paid.
(b) The fees of experts and the costs of translation, transcription and registration either in the requested State as in the requesting State.
(c) Expenses related to the transfer of custodial or company officials.
3.- If the execution of the request requires extraordinary expenses, the Parties shall be consulted in advance to determine the terms and conditions under which the required assistance shall be met.
PART IV
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 21
Temporary Scope of Application
This Agreement shall apply to any requirements submitted after its entry into force, even if the offences are committed before that date.
Article 22
Entry into force and denunciation
1.- This Agreement shall be subject to ratification, and shall enter into force at thirty (30) days after the date of the exchange of instruments of ratification.
2.- This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent of the Parties and the agreed amendments shall enter into force in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraph 1 of this Article.
3.- Any Party may denounce this Agreement at any time, by written notification, by diplomatic means which shall take effect one hundred and eighty (180) days after such notification has been received, but in any case, the applications under review shall be carried out in a normal manner until their conclusion.
Made in the City of Lisbon, 7 days from April 2003, in two original copies, in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, both equally authentic.
