In line with a decision made by the meeting of Ministers of Justice of IGAD member states held in September 2007 in Kampala, Uganda, steps are being taken by ICPAT to work towards the development of draft IGAD-wide extradition and mutual legal assistance agreements.

So far a study covering existing bilateral agreements in the IGAD region has been completed and discussions have been going on with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the next steps to be taken.

ICPAT has now decided to convene an international experts meeting to come up with draft texts of such agreements. The meeting is expected to be carried out in Nairobi in late August and invitations have been sent out to the UNODC, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Institute for Security Studies and AMICUS Legal Consultants in the UK to participate in the meeting.

The meeting of international experts is expected to be followed by a meeting of a working group of legal drafters from IGAD member states which will discuss the draft agreements on extradition and mutual legal assistance further.

The adoption of region-wide agreements on extradition and mutual legal assistance would help in dealing with crimes of a general nature and terrorism in particular. Observers note, however, that over and above the signing of such agreements, the political will to implement these sensitive and important measures needs to be present.