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Criminal Law

The Criminal Law Section carries out the mandates given by Heads of Government and Law Ministers that involve the criminal law.

The Criminal Law Section of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division carries out the mandates given by Heads of Government and Law Ministers that involve the criminal law and its enforcement.

The work varies considerably, depending on the needs of member countries and the priority accorded to issues, both internationally and domestically.

Some important current initiatives include assisting member countries with:

• counter terrorism legislation and capacity building;
• measures to combat corruption including asset repatriation; and
• implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

With the growth of transnational crime, it has become critically important that states have the ability to seek and provide assistance by way of extra­dition, mutual legal assistance and with the cross border restraint and confiscation of proceeds of crime. As a result, one of the key continuing mandates of this Section is to facilitate international co-operation capacity and practice.

The Commonwealth is heir to special arrangements in the legal field, originally forged for an empire and long since developed by Law Ministers in ways which permit adherence by non-Commonwealth countries as well. These arrangements, known today as Commonwealth Schemes, form an element of international co-operation between countries and cover:

• extradition;
• mutual legal assistance (including proceeds of crime); and
• transfer of prisoners.

By virtue of these Schemes, Common­wealth countries can provide and receive the necessary assistance in these areas without the requirement for treaties, on the basis of domestic law. The Section works continually on programmes designed to make these important Schemes more effective through assistance with laws and training for police and prosecutors.

In addition to programme work, the Section monitors international developments in order to provide member countries with information and updates on major initiatives of interest. The Section also works to build contacts and linkages with other international organisations in order to co-ordinate its own efforts and collaborate on projects.

The Section distributes two newsletters regularly - Criminal Legal Assistance News [CLAN]  and Crimewatch . These serve to keep member countries updated on interesting developments in criminal law and international co-operation.