Mutual assistance and police-to-police assistance
Note:This is for general information only. It does not give legal advice on the operation of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 (Mutual Assistance Act) and should not be relied on as legal advice.
What is the difference between mutual assistance and police-to-police and agency-to-agency assistance?
A variety of tools is available to law enforcement officers to obtain information and evidence from foreign countries. Mutual assistance, police-to-police assistance and agency-to-agency assistance are separate forms of cooperation that complement one another.
What is mutual assistance?
Mutual assistance is the process countries use to provide and obtain formal government to government assistance in criminal investigations and prosecutions. Mutual assistance is also used to recover the proceeds of crime. Further information about mutual assistance is contained in Fact Sheet 1 see mutual assistance.
The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 (the Mutual Assistance Act) governs the provision of mutual assistance in criminal matters in
What is police-to-police assistance?
Police-to-police assistance is informal cooperation that is provided by one country’s police force to the police force of another country. Examples of police-to-police assistance include providing general intelligence, operational briefings and information obtained from voluntary interviews.
Interpol is the world’s largest international police organisation. It facilitates police-to police assistance and cooperation even where diplomatic relations do not exist between particular countries.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) maintains an extensive international network of its officers posted in Australian overseas missions. These officers provide a conduit for Australian and overseas law enforcement agencies to exchange information and progress investigations.
The AFP has also entered into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with its counterparts in a large number of foreign countries. These MOUs facilitate cooperation between the policing agencies.
Police-to-police assistance does not include providing information that must be obtained by the exercise of coercive powers, such as material obtained by search warrant. Such assistance must be sought through a mutual assistance request.
How does mutual assistance complement police-to-police assistance?
Police-to-police assistance is often used in the investigation stage of a law enforcement operation, or to obtain general intelligence or information that would not require the exercise of coercive powers. Police-to-police assistance can be an effective way to determine what material is held by a foreign country prior to making a mutual assistance request. As police forces are typically called upon to assist with executing mutual assistance requests, a good relationship between police forces benefits the mutual assistance process.
What is agency-to-agency assistance?
Most Australian federal investigative agencies have liaison and information sharing arrangements with their counterparts in foreign countries. The information sought through agency-to-agency assistance often does not require the exercise of coercive powers and does not require a mutual assistance request to be made. If a mutual assistance request is not needed, the assistance is provided on a cooperative basis.
The term ‘agency-to-agency assistance’ is a generic term that encompasses both police-to-police assistance and cooperation between non-police agencies like the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) with their counterparts in other countries.
Sometimes the terms ‘police-to-police assistance’ and ‘agency-to-agency assistance’ are used interchangeably. ‘Police-to-police assistance’ is sometimes used as a general term to include all types of informal assistance provided between police and other agencies (eg ATO, ASIC etc).
However, police-to-police assistance in the Australian context refers only to assistance that the Australian Federal Police or State and Territory police forces give their counterparts in foreign police services.
