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U.S. will sign Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Accords with Lithuania

June 14, 2005

Brussels – tomorrow, June 15, the United States will sign bilateral Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance (MLAT) agreements with Lithuania. These instruments will bring bilateral U.S.-Lithuania accords into conformity with the U.S.-European Union Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance treaties of June 2003.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Lithuanian Minister of Justice Gintautas Buzinskas will sign the agreements at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels.

Similar instruments have already been signed, or negotiations completed, with a number of EU countries, including Belgium, Finland, France, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Lithuania is the first of the new EU member states to sign the agreements updating the bilateral accords.

The U.S.-EU agreements give police and prosecutors on both sides of the Atlantic new tools for fighting terrorism, organized crime and other serious forms of criminality. The mutual legal assistance treaty provides for, among other things, the formation of joint investigative teams, the use of video-technology for taking testimony, and the exchange of information regarding suspect bank accounts used by criminals.

The extradition treaty updates treaties in force between the U.S. and EU member states, some of which permitted extradition for only a limited range of listed offenses. Henceforth, extradition will be available for a broad range of serious offenses punishable under both states' laws. Other provisions are designed to modernize and facilitate the extradition relationship.

Text of U.S.-EU Extradition and Legal Assistance Treaties

Contact:  

Ms. Maia Johnson
Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Mission to the EU
Tel. +32/2/508-2774
E-mail: johnsonmaiaj@state.gov