Joint Declaration of the 9th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference　

Joint Declaration of the 9th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference

November 24 to 25, Nanning, China

The 9th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference was held in Nanning, China from 24 to 25 November 2015. The conference was attended by:

H.E. Cao Jianming, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China,

H.E. Datin Seri Paduka Hajah Hayati binti POKSDSP Hj. Mohd. Salleh, Attorney General and Public Prosecutor of Brunei Darussalam,

H.E. Chea Leang, Prosecutor General of the Kingdom of Cambodia,

H.E. H. M. Prasetyo, Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia,

H.E. Khamsane Souvong, Prosecutor General of the Lao People's Democratic Republic,

H.E. Tan Sri Dato' Sri Haji Mohamed Apandi bin Haji Ali, Attorney General of Malaysia,

H.E. Tun Tun Oo, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,

H.E. Severino H. Gana, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor of the Republic of the Philippines,

H.E. Tan Siong Thye, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic of Singapore,

H.E. Pongniwat Yuthapanboripam, Attorney General of the Kingdom of Thailand,

H.E. Nguyen Hoa Binh, Prosecutor General of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

(hereafter collectively referred to as "the Prosecutors-General").

The conference was successfully held in a warm and friendly atmosphere. The participating delegations fully recognized the important role played by the mechanism of the China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference in combating transnational crimes, protecting social welfare and upholding national stability. Focusing on the theme of "international cooperation on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery", the delegates from the participating countries shared effective practices and successful experience of their own countries in this regard, made in-depth analysis into the difficulties and obstacles in cooperation and proposed many constructive and operable recommendations and suggestions. The delegates agreed that with deepening economic globalization, some corruption crimes have shown a trend of organized and transnational nature and, in particular, some corrupt criminals have fled overseas and transferred their corrupt assets across border, which has not only affected the healthy political, economic and social development of the countries in this region but also undermined the vital interests of the people of those countries. To strengthen international cooperation against corruption and particularly deepen international cooperation on mutual legal assistance and asset recovery will help all countries in this region to punish and prevent corruption more effectively and meet the people's common aspirations for clean government and clean politics.

To this end, the Prosecutors-General declare that:

1. The Prosecutors-General remain committed to the principle of equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit, to strive to further build consensus on international cooperation against corruption, and on the basis of mutual respect for national sovereignty, judicial jurisdiction, and national laws, actively promote international cooperation on mutual legal assistance and asset recovery, minimize obstacles to cooperation and form synergies for the international fight against corruption and other serious crimes.

2. The Prosecutors-General, subject to the domestic laws of their countries, endeavor to faithfully and effectively fulfill the duties of prosecution authorities under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and other multilateral and bilateral treaties their respective countries are parties to in relation to fighting against corruption and other serious crimes, improve international anti-corruption law enforcement and judicial cooperation mechanisms and develop smooth and effective ways in facilitating the implementation of mutual legal assistance in bringing to justice suspects or criminals and tracing, confiscating and returning proceeds of crime and stolen assets.

3. The Prosecutors-General, on the basis of mutual respect for national sovereignty, judicial jurisdiction and national laws, encourage and advocate the use of measures, such as assisting in the recovery of assets through civil confiscation proceedings, mutually recognizing and enforcing confiscation rulings and so on, to increase effective international cooperation against corruption.

4. The Prosecutors-General, subject to the domestic laws of their countries, agree to intensify information exchange on crimes and timely update each other on the monitored, tracked and grasped data and intelligence about the flow of corrupt criminals and the cross-border transfer of corrupt assets and, when necessary, explore the establishment of information networks to share the resources of information on fighting crimes.

5. The Prosecutors-General agree to deepen exchanges on fugitive repatriation and asset recovery regimes by way of exchanging prosecutors for training, jointly organizing seminars and discussing individual cases through video conferences in a joint effort to raise the capacity of prosecutors for handling transnational crimes of corruption and other serious crimes.

With a view to further enhancing cooperation and exchanges between China and the ASEAN member states in the prosecutorial fields, the participating delegates agreed that the Lao People's Democratic Republic will host the 10th China-ASEAN Prosecutors General Conference next year.

This declaration was signed in Nanning, China on 25 November 2015, done in duplicate in both Chinese and English, with the two texts being equally authentic.