Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
Also called: MLAT · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) is an agreement under which countries formally help each other in criminal cases. Under it, one country can ask another to collect evidence, record statements, deliver court papers or trace money linked to a crime. Each country names a central authority (the one office that sends and receives these requests), so the requests do not go through ad hoc channels. Most MLATs are between two countries (bilateral), but some are signed by many countries (multilateral). MLATs matter because police and courts cannot act on their own outside their own country, so this is a lawful way to get help across borders. The weak point is that the process is often slow.
Example
India and the US have an MLAT for criminal cooperation. It works alongside their extradition treaty. In the 2026 civil suit filed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a US court against NSA Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel, this criminal channel was not the route used. Because the case was civil, the court papers had to come through the separate Hague route. In India that route runs through the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Don't confuse with
- Hague Service Convention: a multilateral convention for delivering court papers in civil and commercial cases. India's central authority under it is the Ministry of Law and Justice. An MLAT covers criminal matters.
- Extradition treaty: used to hand over a person who is accused or convicted of a crime. An MLAT only moves evidence, documents and information, never the person.