VZCZCXRO1556
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHRL #3564/01 3551630
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211630Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6497
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 003564 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS AND L/LEI (KEN PROPP) 
DOJ FOR BRUCE SWARTZ AND LINDA MCKINNEY 
USEU FOR MARK RICHARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KJUS PREL PGOV GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN GOVERNMENT SENDS LEGISLATION TO PARLIAMENT 
TO APPROVE U.S.-GERMAN JUDICIAL COOPERATION TREATIES 
 
REF: BERLIN 3540 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (U) On December 13, the German cabinet approved enabling 
legislation for five treaties on German-U.S. judicial 
cooperation in criminal matters, paving the way for their 
ratification.  As a next step in the ratification process, 
both houses of the German Parliament (the Bundestag and 
Bundesrat) must approve the legislation, which will then be 
transmitted to the German Federal President for his 
signature.  The treaties will significantly improve and 
expand judicial cooperation.  End Summary. 
 
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Background -- Current Legal Situation 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Currently, an extradition treaty signed in 1976 and a 
supplemental treaty of 1986 provide the legal basis for 
extradition between Germany and the U.S. in connection with 
criminal prosecutions or enforcement of criminal penalties. 
Legal assistance requests for evidence to be used in criminal 
proceedings are handled by way of letters rogatory. 
 
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MLAT 
---- 
 
¶3.  (U) The bill on German-U.S. judicial cooperation approved 
by the German cabinet and sent on to the parliament enables 
the ratification of five treaties dealing with both legal 
assistance and extradition.  First, the bill would ratify the 
bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters 
(MLAT) that was signed between the United States and Germany 
on October 14, 2003 after over twenty years of negotiations. 
This treaty is designed to provide the legal basis for the 
formal procedures by which the two countries afford each 
other legal assistance in criminal matters.  The new MLAT 
will not only establish a legal obligation to afford each 
other legal assistance, but also will allow a variety of new 
types of legal assistance, such as telecommunication 
surveillance and undercover investigations.  Moreover, the 
agreement breaks new ground in including detailed provisions 
regulating the use of information in order to comply with 
German data protection concerns (Ref) without compromising 
the flexibility of U.S. law enforcement. 
 
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U.S.-EU Agreement 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) The bill also approves the Agreement on Extradition 
between the European Union and the United States, as well as 
the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance between the European 
Union and the United States, which were signed on June 25, 
¶2003.  These post-9/11 agreements signify a notable 
advancement in law enforcement cooperation with the entire 
EU.  The agreements are designed to speed up and simplify the 
extradition process, enhance grounds for allowing 
extradition, and expand legal assistance in criminal matters. 
 Key provisions in the mutual assistance area include 
mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of banking information 
between investigating authorities and for using new 
techniques, including joint investigative teams. 
 
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Supplementary Treaties 
---------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Finally, the bill will approve two supplementary 
implementing instruments on extradition and on legal 
assistance that were negotiated as a result of the two 
U.S.-EU agreements.  Since the two U.S.-EU agreements were 
formally concluded between the European Union and the United 
States, but are applied in bilateral relationships between 
individual EU member states and the U.S., bilateral 
implementing agreements with each EU member state had to be 
negotiated, taking into account pre-existing bilateral 
 
BERLIN 00003564  002 OF 002 
 
 
provisions.  Such supplemental treaties between Germany and 
the U.S. were signed on April 18, 2006.  The supplemental 
treaty to the bilateral extradition treaty adds the 
provisions of the U.S.-EU extradition agreement to the 
existing bilateral agreement.  Similarly, the supplemental 
treaty to the new bilateral MLAT will amend the MLAT to bring 
it into compliance with the provisions of the U.S.-EU legal 
assistance agreement. 
 
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Next Steps 
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¶6.  (SBU) The bill must be approved by the German Parliament 
(Bundestag and Bundesrat) and signed by the Federal 
President.  Parliamentary approval is expected in early 2007. 
 According to the official explanatory commentary that 
accompanied the legislative package, the ratification process 
for the U.S.-EU agreement could take considerable time 
because the necessary domestic procedures have to be 
completed in all participating EU member states.  According 
to Holger Karitzky, of the International Criminal Law Office 
of the German Federal Ministry of Justice, even though 
Germany has wrapped all of the treaties into one legislative 
package, the MLAT and the U.S.-EU agreement (which presumably 
will take much longer to ratify) can enter into force 
independently of each other and at different times.  The 
supplemental treaty to the MLAT will enter into force on the 
date of entry of the MLAT.  This will ensure that legal 
assistance requests can be processed according to the new 
legal basis as soon as possible. 
KOENIG