Harmonization of Law on Mutual Legal Assistance by Indonesia in Eradicating Transnational Economic Crime in ASEAN Economic Community

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210506.005How to use a DOI?

Keywords

the ASEAN economic community, harmonization of laws, mutual legal assistance, transnational economic crime

Abstract

The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community is aimed at increasing prosperity in the region. However, there are challenges and threats to achieving that goal. One of the serious threats in achieving the goals of the ASEAN Economic Community is Transnational Crime especially in economic activities that cause crime. As anticipation, ASEAN has agreed to a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (ASEAN MLA). This agreement has been ratified by all member countriesAll member countries have ratified this agreement. The objective of the Treaty is to improve the effectiveness of the law enforcement authorities of the Parties in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of offenses through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. However, the Treaty has not optimally functioned in fighting transnational crime. It is proved from the fact that the request for legal assistance between member countries is relatively low. The differences in the legal system of member countries have become a major obstacle to implement the Treaty. That is why OECD recommended that there should be better coordination in legal enforcement agencies between or different legal systems. This article is discussing the harmonization of laws regarding MLA in combating transnational crime in ASEAN Countries. The research applies legal research and analysis laws both at the national and international levels. The research finds that the sovereignty principle becomes the primary handicap in achieving harmony in the laws since each country places national interest as the priority. Disharmony is found in the limitation of the scope of the agreement and in the dual criminality principle that causes each national law to limit the crime that is covered by the agreement. There is also an escape clause that causes a member state to refuse a request from another country. To optimize transnational crime eradication, there should be an effort to increase harmony among national laws by all member countries. However, the most important thing is how member countries create sound diplomatic measures to make the agreement more effective and efficient in combating transnational crime.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yoserwan
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/08
TI  - Harmonization of Law on Mutual Legal Assistance by Indonesia in Eradicating Transnational Economic Crime in ASEAN Economic Community
BT  - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Law and Human Rights 2020 (ICLHR 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 24
EP  - 31
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210506.005
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210506.005
ID  - 2021
ER  -