MOSCOW, May 23 (RAPSI) – The lower house of Russian parliament has ratified the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

The corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma by President Vladimir Putin in April.

Russia signed the Protocol in Strasbourg on December 1, 2017.

The document is aimed to make the cooperation mechanisms under the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters more effective in particular by expanding the range of circumstances giving grounds for mutual legal assistance, streamlining, acceleration and making the procedure of such aid more flexible in criminal cases, according to an explanatory note to the bill.

However, Russia reserves the right not to accept Articles 16, 17 and 19 of the Protocol as national legislation does not envisage mailing litigation documents and judgements to individuals located abroad and conducting law enforcement intelligence operations (undercover investigation) by foreign officers in Russia.

Moreover, the Russian Federation can apply provisions of the Protocol’s Articles 18 and 20 concerning controlled extraditions of defendants to other countries.

The Russian Justice Ministry would be a competent body for these matters.