Key Benefits:
452 OF 1998
(August 4)
Official Journal No 43,360 of 11 August 1998
By means of which the " Agreement on judicial cooperation in the field
is approvedcriminal law between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the
of ColombiaRepublic of Paraguay, " made in Santa Fe de Bogota, the thirties and
one (31) of July of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven (1997).
THE CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
Having regard to the text of the "Agreement on judicial cooperation in criminal matters between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay", made in Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., the thirty-one (31) of July of a thousand nine hundred Ninety-seven (1997), which to the letter says:
(To be transcribed: photocopy of the full text of the international instrument mentioned, duly authenticated by the Head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
" AGREEMENT ON JUDICIAL COOPERATION IN CRIMINAL MATTERS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY
The Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay, hereinafter "the Parties";
Considering the bonds of friendship and cooperation that unite them;
Estimating that the fight against crime requires the joint action of the States and constitutes a shared responsibility of the international community;
Aware that it is necessary to strengthen the mechanisms of judicial cooperation and mutual assistance, in order to prevent the increase of criminal activities;
Eager to bring forward joint actions for the prevention, control and repression of crime in all its manifestations;
In observance of the constitutional, legal and administrative norms of its States, as well as respect for the principles of International Law, in particular of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-intervention in internal affairs, and taking into account the recommendations of the United Nations on the subject;
Agree to the following:
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
1. This Agreement is intended to provide mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the competent authorities of the Parties.
2. The Parties shall assist each other in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and in strict compliance with their legal systems, for the investigation of crimes and for cooperation in judicial proceedings relating to criminal matters.
3. This Agreement does not entitle the authorities or individuals of the Requesting Party to carry out on the territory of the Requested Party functions which, according to the internal laws, are reserved for their authorities, except in the case provided for in the Article 13, numeral 3.
4. This Agreement shall not apply to:
(a) The detention of persons in order to be extradited or to extradition requests;
b) The transfer of convicted persons to the object of their criminal sentence;
c) Assistance to individuals or to third countries.
ARTICLE 2o. SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE. Assistance comprises:
a) Notification of procedural acts;
b) Reception and production or practice of tests, such as testimonies and statements, expertise and inspections of persons, goods and places;
c) Localization and identification of people;
(d) Notification of persons and experts to appear voluntarily in order to provide evidence or testimony in the Requesting Party;
e) Transfer of persons detained for the purpose of voluntarily appearing as witnesses in the Requesting Party or for other purposes expressly indicated in the application, in accordance with this Agreement;
f) Precautionary measures on goods;
g) Compliance with other requests for goods, including the eventual transfer of value of the seized goods in a definitive manner;
h) Delivery of documents and other test objects;
i) Embargo and sequestration of goods for the purposes of compliance with compensation and fines imposed by a criminal court judgment;
j) Any other form of assistance in accordance with the purposes of this Agreement as long as it is not incompatible with the laws of the Requested State.
ARTICLE 3o. CENTRAL AUTHORITIES.
1. Each Party shall designate the Central Authority responsible for submitting and receiving the applications that constitute the subject matter of this Agreement.
2. To this end the Central Authorities shall communicate directly to each other and shall forward the requests to their Competent Authorities.
3. The Central Authority for the Republic of Paraguay shall be the Ministry of Justice and Labour.
4. The Central Authorities for the Republic of Colombia will be: Regarding the requests for assistance sent to Colombia, it will be the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation and in relation to the requests for judicial assistance made by Colombia, the Central Authority shall be the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation or the Ministry of Justice and Law.
ARTICLE 4. COMPETENT AUTHORITIES FOR THE REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE. Applications transmitted by a Central Authority in accordance with this Agreement shall be based on requests for assistance from Competent Authorities of the Requesting Party. responsible for the prosecution or investigation of crimes.
ARTICLE 5o. DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE.
1. The required party may refuse assistance when:
(a) The application relates to a criminal offence as such in military law, not in ordinary criminal law;
(b) The application relates to a crime that is classified as a political or related to this and conducted for political purposes in the Required Party;
(c) The person in respect of whom the measure is sought has been cleared or has served his or her conviction in the Party Required for the offence referred to in the application.
However, this provision may not be invoked to deny assistance in relation to other persons;
d) Compliance with the request is contrary to the security or public order of the Required Party.
2. If the Requested Party refuses the assistance, it shall inform the Requesting Party through its Central Authority, expressing the reasons for it, except as provided for in Article 12, 1, literal (b).
3. The Competent Authority of the Redeemed Party may refuse, condition or defer compliance with the application, where it is deemed to be an obstacle to an ongoing criminal procedure on its territory.
On these terms the Requested Party shall consult the Requesting Party through the Central Authorities and, if the Requesting Party accepts the conditional assistance, the request shall be fulfilled in the manner proposed.
COMPLIANCE WITH REQUESTS.
ARTICLE 6o. FORM AND CONTENT OF THE REQUEST.
1. The request for assistance shall be made in writing.
2. If the request is sent by telex, facsimile, e-mail or other equivalent means, the original documents signed by the Requesting Party must be submitted within 30 days of its formulation, according to the set to this.
3. The application shall contain the following information:
a) Identification of the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party;
b) Description of the subject matter and the nature of the court proceedings, including the offences to which it relates;
c) Description of requested assistance measures;
d) Reasons for which measures are requested;
e) Text of applicable legislation;
f) Identity of persons subject to judicial proceedings, where they are known;
g) The term within which the Requesting Party wants the request to be met.
4. Where necessary, and as far as possible the application shall also include:
a) Information about the identity and domicile of the persons whose testimony is to be obtained;
b) The identity and domicile of the persons to be notified and their relationship to the process;
c) Information on the identity and whereabouts of persons to be located;
(d) the exact description of the place to be inspected and the identification of the person under examination, as well as the goods subject to a precautionary measure or confiscation;
e) Text of the interrogation to be formulated for the receipt of the testimonial test in the Required Party, as well as the description of the manner in which any testimony or statement must be received and recorded;
f) Description of the special form and procedures in which the application must be fulfilled, if required;
g) Information about the payment of the expenses to be assigned to the person whose presence is requested from the Required Party;
(h) Where necessary and appropriate, the indication of the authorities of the Requesting Party participating in the process being developed in the Redeemed Party;
i) Any other information that may be of use to the Required Party to facilitate compliance with the request.
1. Compliance with the requests shall be made in accordance with the law of the Require Party and in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
2. At the request of the Requesting Party, the Redeemed Party shall comply with the special forms and procedures indicated in the request, unless they are incompatible with its domestic law.
ARTICLE 8o. CONFIDENTIALITY AND LIMITATIONS IN THE USE OF INFORMATION.
1. The Requested Party shall keep the request for legal assistance under reserve, unless its lifting is necessary to comply with the request.
2. If for the fulfilment of the requirement the lifting of the reservation is necessary, the Requested Party shall request its approval from the Requesting Party, by written communication, without which the request shall not be fulfilled.
3. The Competent Authority of the Requested State may request that the information or evidence obtained under this Agreement be confidential in accordance with the conditions it shall specify. In such a case, the Requesting Party shall respect such conditions and if it cannot accept them, it shall notify the Requested Party, which shall decide definitively on the request for cooperation.
4. The Requesting Party may only use the information or evidence obtained under this Agreement in the investigation or procedure indicated in the application.
ARTICLE 9o. DEADLINES FOR PROCESSING THE REQUEST.
1. The Central Authority of the Redeemed Party shall report within a reasonable time on the processing of the request.
2. The Central Authority of the Requested Party shall promptly report the outcome of the application and shall forward all information and evidence obtained to the Central Authority of the Requesting Party.
3. Where it is not possible to comply with the request, in whole or in part, the Central Authority of the Requested Party shall immediately communicate to the Central Authority of the Requesting Party and inform the reasons why its compliance was not possible.
ARTICLE 10. COST. The Required Party will be responsible for the costs of filing the application. The Requesting Party shall pay the expenses and fees corresponding to the expert reports, transcripts and expenses resulting from the use of special forms or procedures and the travel expenses of the persons indicated in the articles 14 and 15.
FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.
1. The Central Authority of the Requesting Party shall transmit the request for notification to the Competent Authority of the requesting Party, at a reasonable time in advance of the expected date for this.
2. If the notification is not made, the Requested Party shall inform the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party, through the Central Authorities, of the reasons for the failure of the Party.
ARTICLE 12. DELIVERY AND RETURN OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.
1. At the request of the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party, the Competent Authority of the Required Party, through the Central Authorities:
a) Provide copies of official documents, records and information accessible to the public;
(b) It may provide copies of documents and information to which the public does not have access, under the same conditions as those documents would be made available to its own authorities. If the assistance provided for in this literal is denied, the competent authority of the Redeemed Party shall not be obliged to express the reasons for the refusal.
2. Documents or objects that have been sent in compliance with a request for legal assistance shall be returned by the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party, when the requested Party so requests.
ARTICLE 13. ASSISTANCE ON THE REQUIRED PART.
1. Any person who is in the territory of the Require Party and who is asked to testify, present documents, background or evidence under this Agreement shall be required to appear in accordance with the law of the Party. the Required Party, to the Competent Authority.
2. The Required Party shall inform in good time the place and date of receipt of the testimonial statement or the documents, background or evidence shall be presented. When necessary, the Competent Authorities shall consult each other through the Central Authorities, in order to set a suitable date for the Competent Authorities of the Requesting and Redeemed Party, for the purposes of the assistance. requested.
3. The requested party shall, under its management, authorise the presence of the authorities indicated in the application during the course of the proceedings for cooperation, and shall allow questions to be asked if its legislation is accepted. The hearing shall take place in accordance with the procedures laid down by the legislation of the Required Party.
4. If the person referred to in numeral 1 alleges immunity, privilege or incapacity under the legislation of the Redeemed Party, this shall be resolved by the Competent Authority of the Redeemed Party prior to the application, and shall be communicated to the Requesting Party through the Central Authority.
5. The documents, background and evidence provided by the declarants or obtained as a result of their declaration or on the occasion of the declaration shall be sent to the Requesting Party together with the declaration.
ARTICLE 14. ASSISTANCE IN THE REQUESTING PARTY.
1. Where the Requesting Party requests the presence of a person on its territory to testify or provide information or declaration, the Replaced Party shall invite the declarant or expert to the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party.
2. The Competent Authority of the Redeemed Party shall record in writing the consent of the person whose presence is requested in the Requesting Party, and shall immediately inform the Central Authority of the Requesting Party about the response.
3. Upon request for appearance, the Central Authority of the Requesting Party shall indicate that the travel and stay costs shall be in charge.
ARTICLE 15. HEARING OF PERSONS DETAINED.
1. If the Requesting Party requests the appearance on its territory of a person who is being held in the territory of the Requested Party, the Party shall transfer the person detained to the territory of the Requesting Party, after making sure that the person is not there are serious reasons to prevent the transfer and prior express consent of the detained person.
2. The shipment will not be admitted when, depending on the circumstances of the case, the Competent Authority of the Redeemed Party considers the shipment to be inconvenient, specifically when:
(a) The presence of the detained person is necessary in an ongoing criminal proceedings in the territory of the Redeemed Party;
b) The transfer may involve the prolongation of the preventive detention.
3. The Requesting Party shall keep the person transferred in custody and deliver it to the Reloved Party within the period set by the Party.
4. The time the person is outside the territory of the Redeemed Party will be computed for the purposes of the remand, or the fulfillment of the penalty.
5. When the penalty imposed on the person transferred under the terms of this article expires, and it is in the territory of the Requesting Party, it shall be released, from then on, to enjoy the status of person not for the purposes of this Agreement.
6. The detained person who does not give his consent to make statements in the terms of this article, shall not be subject, for this reason, to any sanction nor shall be subject to any such measure.
7. Where a party requests the other party, in accordance with this Agreement, to transfer a person of his nationality and his Constitution to prevent the surrender to any title of his nationals, he shall inform the other of the content of those provisions to the another Party.
ARTICLE 16. TEMPORARY WARRANTY.
1. The appearance of a person who consents to testify or testify, as provided for in Articles 14 and 15, shall be conditional on the Requesting Party granting a temporary guarantee, for which, while the person is in his territory, the person may not:
a) Stop or prosecute the person for offenses prior to their departure from the territory of the Reloved Party;
b) Citar the person to appear or testify in proceedings other than the one specified in the application.
2. The temporary guarantee shall cease when the person voluntarily extends his stay in the territory of the Requesting Party by more than fifteen (15) days from the moment his presence is not necessary in that State, in accordance with the provisions of the Communicated to the Required Party.
ARTICLE 17. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.
1. The competent authority of the Requested Party shall take the request for cooperation on a precautionary measure if it contains sufficient information to justify the origin of the measure requested. Such a measure shall be subject to the procedural and substantive law of the Requested State.
2. Where a Party is aware of the existence of instruments, the object and/or the fruits of the offence, in the territory of the other Party, which are possible for precautionary measures under the legislation of that Party, it shall inform the Central Authority of that State. It shall forward the information received to its competent authorities for the purpose of determining the adoption of the appropriate measures. Those authorities shall act in accordance with the laws of their country and shall communicate to the other Party, through the Central Authorities, the measures taken.
3. The requested Party shall, in accordance with its legislation, decide on any request concerning the protection of third-party rights on objects which are subject to the measures provided for in the preceding numerals.
4. A requirement under this Article shall include:
a) Copy of the decision on the precautionary measure;
b) Summary of the facts of the case, including a description of the offence, where and when it was committed and an express mention of the relevant legal provisions;
(c) If possible, the description of the goods in respect of which the measure is intended to be carried out and its commercial value, and the relationship of the goods to the person against which it was initiated;
(d) Estimate of the sum to which the precautionary measure is intended to be applied and the basis for the calculation of the measure.
5. The competent authorities of each Party shall promptly report on the exercise of any appeal or of a decision taken in respect of the precautionary measure requested or applied.
6. The Competent Authority of the Redeemed Party may provide a term limiting the duration of the requested measure, which shall be promptly notified to the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party, explaining its motivation.
ARTICLE 18. OTHER COOPERATION MEASURES.
1. The Parties may, in accordance with their domestic law, cooperate in the enforcement of definitive measures on property related to a crime committed in either Party.
2. The Parties may conclude agreements on this subject.
ARTICLE 19. CUSTODY AND DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY. The Party that has the instruments, the object or the fruits of the crime in its custody shall have the same in accordance with its internal legislation. To the extent permitted by its laws and in terms deemed appropriate, that Party may dispose of the other of the seized goods or the proceeds of its sale.
1. Liability for damages that may arise from the acts of their authorities in the execution of this Agreement shall be governed by the domestic law of each Party.
2. Neither Party shall be liable for any damages that may result from acts of the Authorities of the other Party, in the formulation or execution of an application, in accordance with this Agreement.
ARTICLE 21. LEGALISATION OF DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATES. Documents from one of the Parties, which must be submitted in the territory of the other Party, which are processed through the Central Authorities, shall not require legalisation or any another analogous formality.
ARTICLE 22. DISPUTE RESOLUTION.
1. Any dispute arising from an application shall be settled by consultation between the Central Authorities.
2. Any dispute arising between the Parties related to the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be resolved by consultation between the Parties through diplomatic channels and through the means of settlement of disputes established in law. International.
FINAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 23. COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER TREATIES, Agreements, OR OTHER FORMS OF COOPERATION.
1. The assistance provided for in this Agreement shall not prevent each Party from assisting the other Party under the provisions of other international instruments in force between them.
2. This Agreement shall not prevent the Parties from developing other forms of cooperation in accordance with their respective legal systems.
ARTICLE 24. ENTRY INTO FORCE AND COMPLAINT.
1. This Agreement shall enter into force at thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the last Diplomatic Note in which the Parties communicate the fulfilment of the procedures required by their respective laws. constitutional.
2. This Agreement may be denounced by each Party at any time by means of a Diplomatic Note which shall have effect six (6) months after the date of receipt by the other Party. The complaint will not affect any requests for assistance in progress.
In faith of which, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective governments, subscribe to this Agreement.
Made in Santa Fe de Bogota, at thirty-one day of the month of July of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven, in two copies in Spanish, being both texts equally valid and authentic.
By the Government of the Republic of Colombia,
MARIA EMMA MEJIA VELEZ.
The Foreign Minister,
By the Government of the Republic of Paraguay,
RUBEN MELGAREJO LANZONI ".
The Foreign Minister,
EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF PUBLIC POWER
PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC
Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., September 4, 1997
Approved. Submit to the consideration of the honorable National Congress for the constitutional effects.
(Fdo.) ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO
(Fdo.) CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ.
The Deputy Foreign Minister, in charge of the functions of the
Office of the Minister,
DECRETA:
ARTICLE 1o. Approve the "Agreement on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay", made in Santa Fe de Bogota on 30 July and one (31) July from one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven (1997).
ARTICLE 2o. In accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of Law 7a. In 1944, the "Agreement on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay", made in Santa Fe de Bogota on 30 and one (31) July of one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven (1997), that the first article of this law is approved, will force the country from the date on which the international link with respect to it is perfected.
ARTICLE 3o. This law governs from the date of its publication.
AMYLKAR ACOSTA MEDINA
The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.
The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
CARLOS SQUIRLA BALLESTEROS.
The President of the honorable House of Representatives,
DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.
The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,
COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
COMMUNICATE AND COMPLY.
Execute a review of the Constitutional Court in accordance with Article 241-10 of the Political Constitution.
Dada en Santa Fe de Bogota, 4 August 1998.
ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO
CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ.
The Foreign Minister,
ALMABEATRIZ RENGIFO LOPEZ.
The Minister of Justice and Law,
