NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday said that it has organised a workshop here for law enforcement agencies on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and extradition matters in coordination with the US Department of Justice.Noting that the workshop was organised at the CBI headquarters here in a hybrid mode, officials in the agency said, it saw participation of officers from across all States and Union Territories (UTs) and the Central law enforcement agencies.“During the workshop, the features of MHA online portal for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters were detailed. This portal has significantly improved the timelines involved in processing International Letters of Request (ILORs) and facilitated ease of drafting requests,” a senior official said.“The workshop involved exchange of feedback between Indian and the US practitioners on expediting assistance, better understanding the relevant legal frameworks with a view to meet each others’ requirements,” the official said, adding that the means of combating “international crimes, criminals and proceeds of crimes” via expeditious international cooperation were also deliberated.The US delegation was headed by Jeffrey M Olson, Associate Director, Office of International Affairs, the US Department of Justice and included Special Agents and attorneys from the FBI and the US Department of Justice.The officials said the workshop was aimed at enhancing international cooperation in combating transnational crimes and better leveraging legal frameworks for mutual assistance and extradition. The rising primacy of digital evidence has increased reliance on foreign located evidence for preventing, investigating and prosecuting crimes, they added.
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