Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday announced that with the signature of Polish President Andrzej Duda, an agreement between Taiwan and Poland on legal cooperation on criminal matters will soon take effect.
“The agreement was approved unanimously by both houses of Poland’s parliament, before being sent to the country’s Presidential Office”, MOFA said in a press statement. “MOFA sincerely welcomes the signing of the important bilateral agreement by Poland President Andrzej Duda on Jan. 28”, it added.
The agreement covers five major areas — criminal matters, extradition, prisoner transfer, exchange of legal and practical insights, and sharing of information for crime prevention, the ministry said adding that it will help strengthen the transnational anti-crime efforts and judicial cooperation between Taiwan and Poland.
The legal cooperation agreement was inked by diplomatic representatives of both countries on June 17, 2019 in Taipei and witnessed by Taiwan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu, Justice Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang and visiting Poland Deputy Justice Minister Łukasz Piebiak.
A few months later, in December 2019, Taiwan’s Legislature passed the agreement, which was the first of its kind signed between Taiwan and a European country.
With Poland President Duda having signed off on it last week, the agreement will take effect as soon as Taiwan receives formal notification from Poland, according to MOFA.
Apart from Poland, Taiwan currently has similar arrangements with the United States, China, the Philippines, South Africa, Nauru and Belize.