Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Mutual legal assistance definition

What does Mutual legal assistance mean? Mutual legal assistance (MLA) is cross‑border co‑operation where one state asks another to obtain and use evidence, serve process, or carry out investigatory or enforcement steps for court proceedings, most often in criminal cases (extradition is separate). The term is descriptive rather than a single statutory definition; assistance is provided under treaties and domestic legislation and, in civil matters, through judicial comity. Core features include a legal basis (treaty or statute), routing via central authorities, and conditions such as dual criminality, necessity/proportionality, confidentiality/speciality, and respect for local admissibility and privilege. Typical MLA requests seek witness evidence, banking and communications records, production...

UK mutual legal assistance for asset restraint and confiscation under POCA 2002 and SI 2005/3181: non‑EU and EU‑TCA requests, orders, enforcement, appeals and cryptoasset civil recovery

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Practice notes

Mutual legal assistance in restraint and confiscation proceedings

Mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT) typically oblige signatory states to help with the restraint and confiscation of criminal proceeds. In the UK, the MLAT restraint/confiscation framework sits in Part 11 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), which also contains the domestic restraint/confiscation schemes in POCA 2002, Parts 2–4. Sections 444 and 445 of POCA 2002 empower UK law Enforcement bodies to make secondary legislation so that requests from foreign authorities for help with identifying, recovering, investigating, freezing, confiscating and forfeiting the proceeds of crime can be acted upon, and to give effect to such requests. For an overview of the power to craft secondary legislation under these provisions, and of the secondary legislation implemented pursuant to them, see Practice Note: POCA 2002—external investigations, requests and orders—introduction. Exercising the power in POCA 2002, section 444, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, SI 2005/3181 (the 2005 Order) establishes the route for domestic enforcement within the UK of overseas restraint and confiscation orders, or their equivalents, and provides the mechanism for doing so...

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John Binns

BCL Solicitors LLP

I have specialised in financial crime since 2006, having first qualified into a criminal legal aid firm and served a short sentence as a policy adviser to the criminal legal aid scheme. I have successfully defended in a number of major fraud trials, but nowadays specialise in helping corporate clients with the knottier issues involved in the Proceeds of Crime Act and related laws, as well as advising corporates and individuals in connection with criminal investigations and financial sanctions. I write and present a lot on these and related issues, and was an expert witness in the House of Lords on the impact of Brexit on criminal investigations. ...

Mohamed Naleemudeen

BCL Solicitors LLP

Mohamed is an Australian-qualified solicitor, who joined BCL from a leading white-collar crime firm in Australia. Mohamed has experience representing high-net-worth individuals and corporates regarding sanctions, extradition, cross-border investigations, tax disputes, fraud, cybercrime, INTERPOL and regulatory matters. He has also acted for clients in transnational and international crime matters, including advising States and individuals on national security, foreign bribery and crimes against humanity matters. While in Sydney, Mohamed was also a casual academic at the University of New South Wales, teaching an LLM subject about the common law to foreign-qualified lawyers and academics.Mohamed previously interned at the International Prosecutor’s office at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in 2020, the international tribunal responsible for prosecuting senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge for their roles in Cambodian Genocide. Mohamed obtained a Master of Public and International Law (Honours) from the...

Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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