Proposed US-German MLAT Breaks Ground

On November 16, 2004, the proposed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters between the United States and Germany was presented and referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The treaty has been a very long time in coming and breaks some new ground. This article reviews only some of the salient provisions. The MLAT has many provisions similar to recent MLATs concluded by the U.S. An exchange of notes accompanies the MLAT and relates to Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Treaty. The Treaty, like other U.S. MLATs, is designed to be self-executing and will not require implementing legislation...