President Thongloun Sisoulith (seated right) and the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, To Lam (seated left), witness the signing of the extradition treaty. - Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE: The governments of Laos and Vietnam have signed an extradition treaty that defines the basic principles and methods around the extradition of criminals between the two countries.
The treaty is in addition to the treaty on legal assistance in civil and criminal matters between Laos and Vietnam, which was signed in Hanoi in 1998.
The new treaty spells out which crimes can lead to extradition, rejection and consideration procedures, and the channels for sending and receiving extradited criminals.
The central coordinating agency for the extradition of criminals in Laos is the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office and in Vietnam it is the Ministry of Public Security of Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
The treaty was signed by Laos’ Supreme People’s Prosecutor, Xaysana Khotphouthone, and Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security of Socialist Republic, Colonel General Luong Tam Quang.
The signing was witnessed by President Thongloun Sisoulith and Vietnam’s President To Lam, during the Vietnamese president’s state visit to Laos last week.
The treaty was formulated following extensive negotiations, with the content largely based on Laos’ Law on Extradition.
This treaty will be an important basis for cooperation between the two countries in the extradition of criminals, ensuring that perpetrators are repatriated to their home country in which their alleged crime has been committed, so they can be brought to justice.
The agreement supports efforts to curb transnational crime and safeguards the interests of the two states and the rights and legitimate interests of the citizens of Laos and Vietnam.
It is also another step forward in enhancing the great friendship, special unity and comprehensive cooperation between the parties, states and peoples of Laos and Vietnam, and in particular between the Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor in Laos and Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. - Vientiane Times/ANN
