Taiwan seeks to forge accord with RP on mutual legal aid By Michaela P. del Callar 02/14/2011

Taiwan seeks to forge accord with RP on mutual legal aid

By Michaela P. del Callar 02/14/2011
Taiwan has called for the immediate forging of a mutual legal assistance agreement with the Philippines to shield its nationals against unlawful arrests and deportations to third countries.

Taipei made this plea in light of the deportation to mainland China of 14 Taiwanese allegedly connected to a big-time telecommu-nications fraud syndicate operating in the Philippines.

In a statement sent to the Tribune by the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (Teco), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Manila explained that such legal bilateral mechanism would allow the Philippines and Taiwan to assist each other in the investigative, prosecutorial and judicial processes related to criminal matters involving their respective nationals.

“To prevent such unde-sirable consequences from happening again in the future, an agreement on mutual judicial assistance between Taiwan and the Philippines should be concluded as soon as possible,” the Teco statement said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110214hed4.html