<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>On March 19, the agreements between Spain and Nigeria on judicial assistance in criminal matters and the transfer of sentenced persons entered into force.</strong></h4> The initial proposals for these treaties were presented by Spain in July 2019, after which both countries exchanged comments on the substance of these initial proposals. Both texts (Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters) were signed on June 1, 2022, in Madrid, during the visit to Spain of the then President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. They were authorized and submitted to the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) during the Council of Ministers meeting on February 7, 2023. However, the dissolution of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate for the call for early elections on July 23 paralyzed the progress of the three agreements and forced them to be submitted again to the Cortes Generales, which took place in April 2024. The Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between the Government of the Kingdom of Spain and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is justified by the need for an instrument of legal cooperation on the transfer of sentenced persons that facilitates the serving of sentences imposed abroad in the country of the convicted person's nationality, thus promoting integration and combating the social uprooting caused by internment in a country other than that of origin, all "with a view to facilitating their rehabilitation and social reintegration." Likewise, the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Government of the Kingdom of Spain and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria generally regulates the provision of mutual legal assistance in criminal proceedings taking place in either party. To this end, the text establishes the modalities of such assistance, as well as the specifics of its procedure, in accordance with the national laws and regulations of each country. The objective of the Treaty, as published last week in the Official State Gazette (BOE), is "to improve the effectiveness of both countries in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of crimes, in particular those related to terrorism and the location, immobilization, seizure, and confiscation of assets used to finance terrorism, as well as the proceeds and instruments of criminal activities, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters." Both treaties are "the result of both countries' desire to strengthen their ties and regulate relations" in these three areas, according to the government after their submission to Parliament. In both matters of judicial assistance in criminal matters and extradition, ties between the two countries have been governed to date by the principle of international reciprocity. On March 25, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, received his Nigerian counterpart, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, in Madrid. He signed a Memorandum of Understanding with them to establish political and diplomatic consultations and promote bilateral cooperation on political, economic, and cultural issues, as well as on migration and consular relations. During the meeting, Albares and Tuggar discussed issues such as security and terrorism and celebrated the entry into force of the two bilateral agreements on the transfer of sentenced persons and on judicial assistance in criminal matters.
