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Department of JusticeMinistère de la Justice
CanadaCanada
Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0H8 / Phone: (613) 957-0007
Fax: (613) 948-1987
Montreal, March 25th, 2007
Dear colleagues,
You will recall the success of the last meeting held on the 26th and 27th of October 2006, which was hosted by the experts of the Republic of Argentina. At that time, we agreed to hold our next meeting in Montreal. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to this beautiful city to all participants. Even more importantly, at our last meeting we agreed on a framework to meet our needs in the context of the Organization of the American States. More precisely to: «[…] consider how to organize the work of the REMJA related to the strengthening of mutual legal assistance and extradition in the Americas […]». (REMJA VI , X, 3).
Since the creation of the Working Group, there has been significant improvement in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and extradition within the OAS and we are convinced that this will continue in the future. Consequently, our relationships are continually being strengthened in the fight against organized cross border crime.
The main topic of the meeting will be a discussion of the document that was agreed upon in Buenos Aires (THE CREATION OF AN INSTITUTIONALIZED AND CENTRALIZED SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION IN THE AMERICAS). We will also be seeking recommendations regarding certain Working Group documents for the next REMJA such as the best practices, the data bulletin, the model law, the informal protocol for Groove, the survey in MLA and extradition, etc. to prepare us in facing new challenges at our future meetings.
I hope you will enjoy the city and I wish you success during the course of this meeting.
Pierre-Gilles Bélanger, Senior Counsel
Coordinator of the Working Group on MLA in Front of the OAS
Please find two documents enclosed (Framework and the document of consultation).