UAE JUDICIAL COOPERATION WITH THE EUROPEANS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003220

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI AND L/LEI - DENISE MANNING

JUSTICE FOR DAAG - BRUCE SWARTZ
OIA - MOLLY WARLOW AND DAVID WARNER
OPDAT - CARL ALEXANDER AND JAMES SILVERWOOD

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KJAN KJUS PGOV KTFN SOCI TC
SUBJECT: UAE JUDICIAL COOPERATION WITH THE EUROPEANS



1. (SBU) Summary. The UAE does not have a robust judicial
cooperation relationship with the U.S. or European
countries. The Ministry of Justice would like to sign bi-
lateral judicial cooperation treaties with the U.S. and is
holding the judicial cooperation relationship hostage in
order to make progress on negotiations. In an effort to
gain perspective on the currently stagnant U.S./UAE
judicial relationship, Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor
(RLA) met with French, Canadian, and Australian officials
to discuss the nature of UAE judicial cooperation with
their respective countries. The French have been
negotiating three judicial cooperation treaties with the
UAE since 2001; the second formal round of negotiations
was held on July 4th-6th in Abu Dhabi though little
progress was made. The UAE responds well to French
requests for fugitive returns but France has not received
a response to a request for evidence in several years. The
French provide substantial training to the UAE in the
areas of law enforcement and justice. There are very few
judicial requests between Canada and the UAE. Canada
intends to provide money laundering training in the
September. While there are few requests between Australia
and the UAE, the UAEG is generally unresponsive to the few
official requests made and has insisted on bi-lateral
judicial cooperation treaties before future assistance
will be given. Both Canada and Australia are considering
the negotiation of bi-lateral judicial cooperation
treaties with the UAE. On July 20, a Ministry of Justice
representative told RLA that the UAE just signed three
draft bi-lateral treaties with Azerbaijan. End summary.

French/UAE Treaty Negotiations Moving Forward Slowly
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2. (SBU) RLA met with Colonel Bernard Vingtdeux at the
French Embassy on July 9 to discuss the French-UAE bi-
lateral judicial cooperation relationship. Colonel
Vingtdeux said that the UAE and France have been
negotiating three treaties since 2001: extradition, mutual
legal assistance and prisoner transfer. The first round of
negotiations was in 2001 and, since that time, the two
countries have been negotiating via diplomatic note -- to
which the UAE has been slow to respond. He added that
there have been difficulties with translations.


3. (SBU) According to Vingtdeux, the second round of
negotiations went smoothly but the talks did not progress
beyond discussion of the mutual legal assistance treaty.
UAE Ministry of Justice (MOJ) representatives raised
concerns (without providing specifics) about engaging in
an agreement to provide bank documents and said that this
provision would have to be discussed at the next round of
negotiations. No time has been set for the next round. The
issue of the death penalty was briefly touched upon, but
according to Vingtdeux, the UAE delegation did not appear
to understand the need for death penalty assurances in the
extradition context. Vingtdeux assessed that the UAE is
not anxious to conclude these treaties quickly, and he
said it has not expressed an interest in concluding all
three simultaneously. UAE officials have not told France
that treaties are necessary for the execution of future
requests.

French/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training
-------------- /


4. (SBU) France has experienced positive cooperation from
the UAE on extradition requests, but not on other judicial
matters. The UAE has returned three French citizens to
France in the last four years. (Note: the French have not
requested the return of a non-French national.) On the
other hand, the UAE has not responded to French letters of
request in three or four years. The French currently have
twelve requests pending in the UAE. Vingtdeux reports that
they have had particular difficulty when the request
involves bank records, even when the Embassy pursues the
request vigorously.


5. (SBU) The UAE Ministry of Interior frequently requests
training and the French provide at least thirty law
enforcement training conferences a year with approximately
50 French officers traveling to the UAE annually to
participate. In addition, the UAE sends officers to France
for training. In 2002, the French government provided
money-laundering training to representatives from the
Central Bank and the Ministries of Interior and Justice.
The French government will be providing similar money
laundering training in September. The Abu Dhabi Judicial
Institute receives training from the French National
School for Judges in Bordeaux. The French Embassy does not
have frequent contact with the Central Bank.

Canadian/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training
-------------- /


6. (SBU) On July 10, RLA met with Dennis O'Byrne Liaison,
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Liaison Office, Consulate of
Canada. Mr. O'Byrne said that there are few bi-lateral
judicial requests between Canada and the UAE. He noted
that the last fugitive return from the UAE to Canada was
in January 2004 and took a long time to execute. The UAEG
did not require an extradition treaty in order to execute
the request but they did request the return of a UAE
fugitive from Canada. However, the Canadian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice were not able to
return the fugitive. The Canadian Department of Justice is
in the process of considering the negotiation of bi-
lateral judicial cooperation treaties with the UAE.


7. (SBU) In early June, at the request of the Ministry of
Interior, the Canadians submitted a law enforcement money
laundering training/counter terrorist financing course
proposal to be held in Abu Dhabi from September 11-21. The
UAE Ministry of Interior has not yet responded to the
offer. The course is entitled "Proceeds of Crime and
Terrorist Financing Investigative Techniques." If it is
held, three investigators and one coordinator will travel
from Canada to present the course. According to O'Byrne,
while Canada enjoys excellent relations with the Ministry
of Interior in terms of training development, working with
the Abu Dhabi Police has been frustrating because of their
inability to articulate their training needs. A nine
person delegation from the Central Bank, as well as law
enforcement representatives, traveled to Canada last month
to learn more about Canadian counter money laundering
procedures. The Central Bank has asked Canada to provide
additional training on this topic as well. The Canadian
Department of Justice has no training programs planned at
this time.

Australian/UAE Judicial Cooperation, Training
-------------- /


8. (SBU) On July 10, RLA met with David Hall, Senior
Police Liaison, Australian Consulate General. Hall said
that Australian letters of requests are rarely, if ever,
executed--even in terrorism matters. The UAE has deported
several Australians in the past but not in response to a
fugitive return request. Hall said that law enforcement
cooperation is somewhat better but not consistent. The
UAEG has stated that judicial cooperation treaties must be
in place before it will provide future cooperation.
Australia is currently considering the negotiation of
judicial cooperation treaties. The UAE has requested
training in a number of areas and, while no training is
currently planned, Australia does intend to provide it.


9. (SBU) On July 20, RLA spoke with a Ministry of Justice
representative who said that the UAE just concluded three
days of treaty negotiations with Azerbaijan. The countries
signed draft agreements on extradition, mutual legal
assistant in criminal, civil and commercial matters.

10. (SBU) Comment: It is useful to note the state of play
between the UAEG and other governments on judicial
cooperation in comparison with our own USG experience.
From October 2004 to January 2005, the UAEG returned five
U.S. requests for assistance in returning fugitives to the
United States to face criminal charges. The UAEG indicated
that it was not taking the requested action because of the
lack of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) or other
understanding with respect to the principles of
reciprocity. Embassy continues to underscore to the UAEG
that the U.S. and the UAE have a shared history of
providing assistance in criminal matters and that our
desire is to ensure that this relationship continues--with
or without an MLAT. End Comment.
SISON