Jakarta, Indonesia - The Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in Criminal Matters between the Republic of Indonesia and The Swiss Confederation has officially entered into force on Tuesday (14/09/2021). This Treaty takes effect after the two countries have completed their respective internal processes.
This treaty was signed by the Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna H. Laoly and the Swiss Minister of Justice, Karin Keller-Sutter in Bern, Switzerland on February 4, 2019. Indonesia has completed its ratification process through Law no. 5 of 2020 concerning Ratification of the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Republic of Indonesia and the Swiss Confederation. Meanwhile, Switzerland has completed its internal process in July 2021. The two parties further notify the completion of the process through the exchange of diplomatic notes.
The enforcement of the RI-Swiss MLA Treaty is a very significant achievement, considering that Switzerland is the world's financial center. This treaty is Indonesia’s first MLA Treaty with a European country so that it will open up opportunities for the conclusion of an MLA Treaty with other strategic countries in the region.
This Treaty regulates legal aid cooperation which is expected to strengthen the tracking, freezing, confiscation and confiscation of assets as the proceeds of crimes. This broad scope of MLA is an important part in supporting the criminal law process in the requesting country.
In line with that, this MLA Treaty can also be used to combat crimes in the fiscal sector, including tax fraud as an effort by the Indonesian government to ensure that Indonesian citizens or legal entities comply with Indonesian tax regulations, and do not commit tax evasion crimes or other tax crimes.
Another important aspect of the RI-Swiss MLA Treaty is the retroactive principle that allows requests for mutual legal assistance for criminal acts whose legal process begins before the entry into force of this treaty. Its implementation will benefit the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to more optimally recover assets or state losses from the proceeds of crimes placed in Switzerland.
Source: https://kemlu.go.id/portal/id/read/2922/berita/percepatan-about-bantuan- Hukum-timbal-balik-antara-indonesia-dan-swiss-resmi-berlaku
