International agreement between countries

We have three informal schemes which member states can chose to participate in which aim to facilitate the provision of mutual legal assistance between countries.

- The Harare scheme, currently being updated, provides for the giving of assistance by the competent authorities of one country (the requested country) in respect of criminal matters arising in another country (the requesting country).

- The London Scheme for Extradition within the Commonwealth governs the extradition of a person from the Commonwealth country in which the person is found, to another Commonwealth country, in which the person is accused of an offence.

- The Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders enables a sentenced offender to be transferred from the sentencing country to another country (the administering country) in order to serve the remainder of his sentence.

We have also set up the Commonwealth Network of Contact Persons which aims to provide an initial point of contact in a country for those seeking mutual legal assistance to approach to gain informal advice on how to initiate a formal mutual legal assistance request and the requirements which must be fulfilled to do so.