Egypt, US sign judicial cooperation MoU

CAIRO – 19 July 2019: Egypt’s Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek and United States Attorney General in the Donald Trump administration William Barr signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding for judicial cooperation in Washington.

The cooperation memorandum was signed based on “the desire of the two sides to work for the interest of justice and the establishment of the state of law,” a statement by the Egyptian side said.

It also aims at “enhancing cooperation between the two countries, and emphasizing the fruitful outcome of judicial cooperation, the statement said, expecting the MoU to strengthen the capacities of prosecutors in the two countries through the exchange of experiences between the two sides in the mutual legal fields and the introduction of modern technologies.”

Further information about the MoU signed between the two sides was not provided by the Egyptian statement.

However, the United States Department of Justice said that the MoU promotes further cooperation in the “fight against transnational crime”.

“The MoU reflects the importance of the continued law enforcement cooperation of Egypt and the United States. It will strengthen the partnership of the US and Egypt to fight against terrorism, transnational crime and other criminal activity,” the US statement read.

“In particular, this MoU allows the US and Egypt to increase consultation on mutual legal assistance. It also will allow for the broader exchange of ideas and practices to enhance the capabilities and experience of our prosecutors,” the statement added.

Egypt also has a judicial cooperation agreement with Libya, under which Egyptian terrorist Hesham Ashmawy who was arrested in Libya was handed to the Egyptian authorities in May this year.

The agreement was signed in 1992, and comprises 93 articles. Article 49 provides, “Both parties shall extradite to each other individuals facing charges by entitled entities and convicts sentenced by the judicial authorities of the party requesting the extradition in accordance with the rules and conditions in this section.”