PRESS RELEASE – On March 25th 2014, the 5th session of the joint security committee between France and Saint Lucia has negotiated two bilateral agreements in the criminal and judicial fields.
These two agreements were signed on September 30th 2016.
This is the first time in the Caribbean, that agreements of this nature are signed by France.
The objective is to ensure a transparency of actions and cooperation between the two countries that thus far have all of the information required and all the means to combat crime and trafficking of all kinds, in particular the trafficking of drugs.
These conventions will also prevent and suppress more easily than today any act of terrorism.
They are also the illustration of the excellent relationship in the field of justice between the heads of services of the French State based in Martinique, in the first rank of which the Prefect of the region and the Attorney General of the Republic, and their counterparts in Saint Lucia.
These two conventions on mutual assistance in the field of justice between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of Saint Lucia has been signed by the Prime Minister of St Lucia Mr. Allen M. Chastanet, and the Ambassador of France Mr. Eric de la Moussaye.
The Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters aims to mentor and develop cooperation between France and Saint Lucia in the field of Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal matters for the purpose of preventing and combating crime, in the respect of their constitutional principles respectively.
To this end, the Agreement provides that the France and Saint Lucia undertake to grant each other the widest measure of mutual legal assistance and rule more specifically the modalities of cooperation in some areas (appearance of witnesses, searches, seizures and forfeitures…).
The Extradition Convention, which is the natural complement of the Mutual Legal Assistance Convention, aims to establish a more effective cooperation between France and Saint Lucia in the suppression of crime.
To this effect, it provides that the two parties undertake to surrender to each other the persons on their respective territories who are prosecuted or have been sentenced by the judicial authorities of the other State for an extraditable offense.
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