TREATY REPORTS CAMBODIA Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between ASEAN Member States Vicheka Lay* 1. Introduction The Law on the Adoption of the ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters 1 was submitted by the Cambodian government to the National Assembly for adoption on December 3, 2009 and after adoption by the National Assembly, the Cambodian Senate, on January 14, 2010, adopted the ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (hereinafter, ŰTreatyű ). This Treaty was collectively signed by representatives from all ASEAN member governments on November 29, 2004 in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia. Composed of 32 articles, the Treaty aims to improve the effectiveness of the law enforcement authorities of the Parties in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of offences through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, such as obtaining and return of evidence, consultation, expenses and other related matters such as request forms. The treaty was initially proposed to operate in conjunction with existing mutual legal assistance in criminal matters mechanisms and does not overlap the existing co- operative mechanisms such as the International Criminal Police Organization ( ŰINTERPOLű ). Ѫ ❑❋❇❏▼☎✷☎✮✸✶✷✶✯ ❯❢❜✉③☎❙❢♣✉ 213 � Legal consultant & law project supervisor. The author is also an editor to various law journals in Cambodia, Africa, and Austria. The author may be contacted at: vichekalay@yahoo.com 1 The ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters is available at http://www.aseansec.org/ 17363.pdf (last visited on Mar. 8, 2010). Cambodian Senate adopted this law on January 14, 2010.