Part Five. International Cooperation in the Sphere of Criminal Court Proceedings

Section XVIII. Procedure for the Interaction of Courts, Prosecutors, Investigators and the Inquest Bodies with the Corresponding Competent Bodies and Officials of Foreign States and with International Organizations

Chapter 53. Principal Provisions on the Procedure for the Interaction of the Courts, Prosecutors, Investigators and the Inquest Bodies with the Corresponding Competent Bodies and Officials of Foreign States and with International Organizations

Federal Law No. 58-FZ of June 29, 2004 amended

Article 453 of this Code Article 453. Directing an Inquiry for Legal Assistance

1. If it is necessary to carry out on the territory of a foreign state an interrogation, examination, seizure, search, court examination or other procedural actions, stipulated by the present Code, the court, the public prosecutor or the investigator shall direct an inquiry about the performance of such to the competent bodies or officials of the foreign state in conformity with an international treaty of the Russian Federation or with an international agreement, or on the principle of reciprocity.

2. The principle of reciprocity shall be confirmed by a written liability of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Control over the Traffic of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances of the Russian Federation or of the Office of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation to render legal assistance to the foreign state on behalf of the Russian Federation in the performance of the individual procedural actions.

3. An inquiry on the performance of the procedural actions shall be forwarded through:
1) the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation concerning the issues involved in
the judicial activity of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation;
2)the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation - on the issues involved in the judicial activity of all the courts, with the exception of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation;
3)the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Control over the Traffic of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances of the Russian Federation - with respect to the investigative actions, not requiring a judicial decision or the consent of the public prosecutor;
4)the Office of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation - in the rest of the cases.

4. The inquiry and the documents enclosed to it shall be translated into the official language of that foreign state, to which they are directed .


Article 454. Content and Form of the Inquiry

The inquiry on the performance of the procedural actions shall be compiled in writing, shall be signed by the official person who is forwarding it and shall be certified with the official stamp; it shall contain:
1) the name of the body, from which the inquiry is being directed;
2)the name and the place of location of the body, to which the inquiry is forwarded;
3)the name of the criminal case and the nature of the inquiry;
4)the data on the persons, with respect to whom the inquiry is directed, including the data on the date and the place of their birth, on their citizenship, on the kind of their occupations, on the place of their residence or of their stay, and as concerns the legal entities - their name and place of location;
5)a presentation of the circumstances subject to clarification, as well as the list of the enquired-after documents, of demonstrative and other proof;
6)information on the factual circumstances of the committed crime and on its qualification, the text of the corresponding Article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and, if necessary, also information on the degree of the damage caused by the given crime.


Article 455. Legal Force of the Proof, Obtained on the Territory of a Foreign State

The proof, obtained on the territory of a foreign state by its official persons in the course of their fulfilling the orders on rendering legal assistance on criminal cases or forwarded to the Russian Federation in an enclosure to the orders on conducting the criminal prosecution in conformity with the international treaties of the Russian Federation and with the international agreements, or on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, certified and handed over in the established order, shall enjoy the same legal force as if they were obtained on the territory of the Russian Federation in complete conformity with the demands of the present Code .