The Brazilian Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, discussed Brazilian judicial reform with Lord Woolf, head of the British Judiciary, at a meeting today in the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, England.
Bastos traveled to London on Wednesday, April 6, to sign a judicial cooperation agreement with the government of the United Kingdom, dealing with penal questions.
The agreement, which was signed yesterday, will permit greater integration between the two countries in the war on money-laundering. On Monday, April 11, the Minister has a meeting scheduled in London with British prison officials.
The cooperation agreement between the two countries will allow the exchange of information, and the collection and production of proof in criminal processes against money laundering.
The agreement will enable cooperation in fiscal fraud related cases, and in exceptional instances, permit the repatriation of the money coming from illicit sources, even before the judicial conclusion of the case.
Documents may also be furnished and included as proofs in processes going through proper procedures in both countries.
The Brazilian government has already signed the same kind of agreement with several countries besides the United Kingdom.
Colombia, South Korea, United States, France, the Member States of the Mercosur (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay), Italy, Peru, and Portugal, all have similar agreements with Brazil.
ABr