Standard form for MLA requests under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

  Date of preparation: 25 September 2023                                                                                                                                       Author: Radu Florin Razvan                                                                                                                                                           Subcommittee: EU institution

 The Specialised Committee established by Article 8(1)(r) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on the other part, has established the standard form for requests for mutual legal assistance, applicable for MLA between the UK authorities, on the one part, and the competent authorities of the EU Member States / of the EU (the EPPO), on the other part.

The Decision No 1/2023 of the Specialised Committee has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 199/9.8.2023. The text of the decision, including the form in all EU official languages, is available here. As competent authority of the EU for MLA and freezing orders, the EPPO will be able to use this form for  MLA requests addressed to the British authorities.

Background

The Agreement on Trade and Cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom, done at Brussels and London on 30 December 2020 , namely its Part Three – “Law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters”, represents the main EPPO’s legal basis for issuing MLA requests and freezing orders addressed to the UK authorities, as the Union has notified the EPPO as a competent authority. Title VIII – “Mutual assistance” (Articles 633 to 642) of Part Three governs the requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. According to Article 633, Title VIII of the EU-UK TCA supplements the provisions and facilitate the application between the EU Member States and the UK of the European Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters and its Additional Protocols.