Requests for mutual legal assistance
The HM Attorney General is the central authority for requests for mutual legal assistance, including requests made under the various Hague Conventions, such as the service of documents in civil and matrimonial cases.
Such requests should be addressed to HM Attorney General in the first instance and we will then arrange for service to be effected and a certificate of service returned to the requesting party.
Guidelines
The Attorney General has issued general guidance to investigatory authorities in other jurisdictions who require mutual legal assistance in their own investigations.
Mutual legal assistance guidelines (English)
Mutual legal assistance guidelines (French)
Mutual legal assistance guidelines (Arabic)
Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom
On 15 March 2024, Jersey’s Attorney General Mark Temple KC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the sharing of forfeited or confiscated assets or their equivalent funds.
The MOU provides a mechanism for the sharing of assets when one participant has assisted another in facilitating the forfeiture or confiscation of assets in criminal or civil proceedings. The existence of this MOU will allow for a more streamlined, effective and timely asset sharing regime between both jurisdictions.
Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom
Memorandum of Understanding with Mozambique
On 7 May 2024, Jersey’s Attorney General Mark Temple KC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to return over £829,500 in forfeited assets to the Republic of Mozambique. It follows a successful application by the Attorney General under the Forfeiture of Assets (Civil Proceedings) (Jersey) Law 2018 to forfeit funds held in a Jersey Trust which had been placed there by a Mozambican national who had received corrupt payments in the course of his employment in Mozambique.
This is the first asset return arrangement entered into by the Government of Mozambique. As set out in the MOU, the forfeited assets will fund the purchase of vital equipment for three enforcement agencies involved in the fight against corruption and financial crime in Mozambique, and finance the delivery of training in international and judicial cooperation to personnel drawn from all eleven provinces of the Republic.
Memorandum of Understanding with Mozambique
Asset Recovery Agreement with Nigeria
On 19 February 2024, Jersey’s Attorney General Mark Temple KC signed an Asset Sharing Agreement (ASA) to permit the return of over £2 million in forfeited assets to Nigeria.
Pursuant to the Forfeiture of Assets (Civil Proceedings) (Jersey) Law 2018, approximately £1.9 million was forfeited from four Jersey-based accounts controlled by Lt-Gen Useni, a senior figure in the Abacha regime. In related proceedings, the balance of a Jersey-based account controlled by Selcan Miner and Selbyen Miner (deceased) was also declared forfeit, the account having been used to launder bribes and other corrupt funds paid to Useni.
While the framework for the return is provided by the 2020 Tripartite Agreement between Jersey, Nigeria and the USA, the present ASA specifies that the funds will finance completion of the Abuja-Kano Road, a crucial Nigerian infrastructure project.
Asset Recovery Agreement with Nigeria
Asset Recovery Agreement with Kenya
On 28 March 2022, Jersey’s Attorney General Mark Temple QC signed an Asset Recovery Agreement (ARA) to repatriate £3 million of confiscated assets to Kenya.
The funds were confiscated by the Jersey authorities in 2016 following the successful conviction of Windward Trading Limited for money laundering offences. The ARA is the first return under the Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya (FRACCK), a multilateral initiative involving:
- Kenya
- the UK
- Switzerland
- Jersey
International agreements and conventions (External Relations)
The funds will go directly to 2 third-party organisations to procure essential medical equipment and support community-based projects to contribute towards Kenya’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asset Recovery Agreement with Kenya
Jersey and Kenya sign historic Asset Recovery Agreement press release
Repatriation agreement between Jersey, Nigeria and the USA
On 3 February 2020, Jersey’s Solicitor General (as Attorney General Designate) Mark Temple QC signed an Asset Recovery Agreement to repatriate more than US$300 million of forfeited assets to Nigeria.
Following mutual legal assistance requests, the funds in Jersey were restrained under the Civil Asset Recovery (International Co-operation) (Jersey) Law 2007 and the Royal Court of Jersey registered a civil asset recovery order made by a United States Court. The funds were returned to the United States and paid to the Federal Republic of Nigeria in accordance with an Asset Recovery Agreement agreed between:
The Agreement provides the mechanism by which the funds will be repatriated for the benefit of the people of Nigeria.
Asset Recovery Agreement
Repatriation agreement between Jersey, Nigeria and USA press release
Asset sharing agreement with the United States of America
In January 2015, a permanent asset sharing agreement was entered into with the United States of America. The agreement recognises the international efforts of both the US and Jersey in the fight against financial and other cross-border crimes, including the targeting of terrorism and money laundering.
The agreement provides a mechanism for the sharing of assets when one party has helped another in facilitating a forfeiture or confiscation of assets in criminal or civil proceedings.
Asset Sharing Agreement with the United States of America
Asset sharing agreement with USA
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