Taiwan and Saint Lucia Sign Legal Assistance Agreement

Thursday, Nov 02

T

he following is a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs:

 The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Saint Lucia held a virtual signing ceremony for the Treaty of Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between Saint Lucia and the Republic of China (Taiwan) on August 16th, 2023. In attendance was Attorney General, Leslie Mondesir, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade, Aviation and Diaspora Affairs, Honourable Alva Baptiste Taiwan Ambassador to Saint Lucia Peter Chen and other officials from the Ministry, while Minister for Justice, Chin-Hsiang Tsai, Deputy Minister, Chung-Kwang Tien, and Saint Lucia Ambassador to Taiwan, Dr. Robert Lewis attended in Taiwan.

The Treaty establishes a mechanism for a State to receive information regarding a criminal element or situation occurring in the other state. This Treaty is expected to provide a high level of comfort for both countries. The requesting State now has the legal means to contact via diplomatic channels, the Central Authority-that being the Office of the Attorney General in Saint Lucia to undergo a thorough and proper investigation.

Honourable Baptiste expressed that whereas there has been no such activity among nationals of Taiwan or Saint Lucia, the governments of both countries must stay ready due to the increased cyberspace criminal activity.

On October 26th, 2023 an in-house signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of External Affairs where Minister Baptiste signed the original Treaty.