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Indonesia-Swiss MLA: Tool to combat tax crime, recover stolen assets
There is a sort of mismatched definition of tax crime between Indonesia and Swiss.
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Mutual cooperation: Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Hamonongan Laoly (left) exchanges documents of mutual legal assistance with Switzerland’s Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter in Bernerhof, Switzerland. (Courtesy of Law and Human Rights ministry/-)
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he House of Representatives ratified the Indonesia-Swiss Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters (MLA) on Tuesday. The bilateral agreement creates a basis in international law upon which justice authorities in the two countries can cooperate in detecting and prosecuting criminal acts, particularly corruption and money laundering.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said the MLA could also be used to combat tax crimes so that taxpayers fully complied with tax rules and avoided tax fraud.
It is encouraging to know that Swiss authorities also agreed to apply a retroactive clause in the agreement, which means it can be used to handle criminal acts committed before the agreement was signed and ratified.
The MLA is a legally binding agreement that enables both signatories to assist in criminal matters, which may involve, but not be limited to, tracing, freezing and the confiscation of illicit financial assets that have been moved to the counterpart country.
This agreement, which was signed by Indonesia and Switzerland on Feb. 4, 2019 in Bern is also a great legal tool to seek help for identifying and searching for a person suspected of committing crimes. Bear in mind that this mechanism can be used without waiting for a court verdict to declare someone guilty.
However, several principles under the MLA should be fulfilled by a requesting country.
First is reciprocity. Like other MLAs, assistance will be granted if the requesting country grants reciprocity.
