Minister of Justice Cai Ching-hsiang, representative of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany Hsieh Chi-wei, director of the German Institute in Taiwan Xu Youge, and vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tanaka Hikaru (from right to left).

(Photographed by reporter Wu Zhengfeng)

[Reporter Wu Zhengfeng/Taipei Report] Xie Zhiwei, ambassador of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany, and Xu Youge, director of the German Association in Taiwan, signed the "Agreement on Mutual Criminal Judicial Assistance between the Taipei Representative Office in Germany and the German Association in Taiwan" at the Ministry of Justice on the 23rd, making Germany a Judicial diplomacy is the seventh European country that has a formal judicial bilateral agreement with my country.

Minister of Justice Cai Ching Siong, who was present at the ceremony, said that the world is facing severe challenges such as cross-border crimes and wars, and only through cooperation can the rights and interests of the two peoples be protected.

The Taiwan-Germany Mutual Legal Assistance Signing Ceremony was held at the Ministry of Justice on the 23rd. Xie Zhiwei and Xu Youge signed on behalf of the two countries respectively. Taiwan's efforts to demonstrate judicial justice have been recognized internationally.

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In his speech, Tsai Ching-hsiang said that Taiwan and Germany are countries that pursue democracy, freedom, and the rule of law with similar ideas. Since the two sides signed the "Agreement on the Transfer of Prisoners and Cooperative Execution of Penalties" in 2013, the transfer of seven prisoners has been completed. In fact, after the signing of the criminal judicial mutual assistance agreement on the 23rd, the exchanges and cooperation between the two parties will be further strengthened.

Cai Qingxiang mentioned that the world is now facing severe challenges such as wars, diseases, and cross-border crimes. Only through global cooperation can we respond to and provide Olympic aid in a timely manner and effectively combat crimes. The agreement signed on the 23rd is for the They provided the best cooperation weapon for each other, and also laid a solid legal foundation for protecting the rights and interests of the two peoples.

The Ministry of Justice explained that the signing of this agreement has been promoted since 2017. During the period, despite the test of the international epidemic and the difficult diplomatic environment facing Taiwan, the two sides continued to maintain communication. After Cai Qingxiang took office in 2018, he instructed his colleagues to actively contact and strengthen Communication, and finally with perseverance and the full assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Taipei Representative Office in Germany, the German Association in Taiwan, etc., successfully facilitated the signing of the mutual legal assistance agreement between the two countries, and the fight against crime knows no borders.

The agreement stipulates that the competent authorities are the Department of International and Cross-Strait Law of the Ministry of Justice and the German Federal Office of Legal Affairs. Requests for mutual legal assistance between each other can be made in writing or electronically in order to speed up the process.

The content of the agreement places emphasis on international cooperation and the needs of fighting crime, including joint investigation teams, asset freezing and sharing, video interrogation, etc. The cooperation projects are practical and diverse. Among them, the protection of personal data processing is more in line with EU regulations, which will help our country Further carry out mutual judicial assistance and criminal investigation cooperation with EU countries, and improve the protection of the rights and interests of Chinese people and EU countries.

The Ministry of Justice emphasized that Cai Qingxiang attaches great importance to the establishment of judicial cooperation between my country and other countries in the world, and has successively promoted the completion of bilateral judicial cooperation treaties and agreements with Poland, Nauru, Belize, Slovakia, Saint Vincent, Palau, South Korea, Japan, and Germany (Discussion) and the signing of the memorandum fully demonstrates my country's determination to cooperate with other countries to combat cross-border crimes.