Mutual legal assistance and international investigations

In today’s global economy, almost every serious business crime case will involve the gathering of evidence from several jurisdictions and often there will be joint investigations, particularly between UK and US regulators. Mutual legal assistance (MLA) is the means by which countries request and provide help in obtaining evidence located in one country in order to assist with a criminal investigation or proceedings in another country. This may be done through international treaty or convention arrangements sometimes involving the UK courts or by agreements between regulators.

Corker Binning has extensive experience in representing businesses and individuals who are either witnesses or suspects in transnational criminal cases and all types of international investigations. Sometimes those clients will be overseas individuals or companies needing advice on UK law. We advise clients about MLA and their rights, obligations or risks if there is an investigation outside the UK where investigation or enforcement is sought in the UK or about the powers of UK prosecutors to request information or action from enforcement agencies overseas. In many cases, advice will be required about law and procedure in the overseas jurisdiction. Our lawyers have excellent contacts with foreign lawyers with whom we work frequently on cross border cases.

This is a complex area of the law, involving difficult multi-jurisdictional issues. It is important to get advice from experienced lawyers who can react quickly to requests, are familiar with the different MLA arrangements that exist between the UK and other countries and can give co-ordinated advice.

Recent examples of international investigations and MLA cases in which Corker Binning has been involved include:

• the US/UK LIBOR investigation
• the US/UK AIG credit default swaps investigation
• the US/UK Halliburton/M W Kellogg investigation
• advising a major firm of accountants on an MLA request for information from Latvia
• mutual assistance in the context of a complaint to the International Criminal Court relating to the killing of civilians in South Ossetia by Georgian military forces in 2008
• an overseas investigation by the Metropolitan Police relating to a senior individual in the former Libyan regime
• an investigation by French police relating to an Englishman alleged to have committed a serious sexual assault against an American while in France.

For more information about Corker Binning’s expertise in this area, visit our extradition page or ring us on 0207 353 6000 to find out how we can help you.