March 23, 2023
No. 085
On March 23 in Taipei, Dr. Shieh Jhy-wey, Representative of the Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Dr. Jörg Polster, Director General of the German Institute Taipei, signed the Arrangement between the Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Institute Taipei on the Cooperation in the Area of Judicial Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. The signing was witnessed by Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang. Moving forward, Taiwan and Germany will support each other with regard to requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in accordance with the arrangement.
Under the arrangement, Taiwan and Germany will provide mutual legal assistance based on the principles of humane treatment, security, speed, simplicity, transparency, and reciprocity. Areas of cooperation include videoconference hearings, transportation of detainees, searches, seizures, joint investigation teams, crime-related asset forfeiture, and asset sharing. The arrangement will continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of criminal proceedings, helping Taiwan and Germany jointly combat illegal activity.
Germany is Taiwan’s largest trading partner in Europe. Taiwan and Germany maintain close and frequent exchanges in the domains of the economy, trade, taxation, transportation, science, technology, and judicial matters. A number of related cooperation documents have been signed, further deepening substantive bilateral ties. In 2013, the Arrangement between the Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Institute in Taipei on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Cooperation in the Enforcement of Penal Sentences was signed. Today, after more than six years of diligent effort, Taiwan and Germany have reached a consensus and signed the current arrangement, comprehensively enhancing bilateral judicial cooperation. In the future, this will help continue to strengthen close cooperation between Taiwan and German judicial authorities. (E)