Mutual legal assistance—restraint and confiscation

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced in partnership with John Binns of BCL Solicitors LLP and Mohamed Naleemudeen of BCL Solicitors LLP
Practice notes

Mutual legal assistance—restraint and confiscation

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Produced in partnership with John Binns of BCL Solicitors LLP and Mohamed Naleemudeen of BCL Solicitors LLP

Practice notes

Mutual legal assistance in restraint and confiscation proceedings

Mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT) generally require the signatory States to provide assistance in restraining and confiscating the proceeds of crime. The UK’s MLAT restraint/confiscation provisions are set out in Part 11 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), which also sets out the UK’s domestic restraint/confiscation regimes in POCA 2002, Pts 2–4.

POCA 2002, ss 444 and 445 provide the UK’s law enforcement authorities with the power to implement secondary legislation to give effect to requests from overseas authorities for assistance in identifying, recovering, investigating, freezing, confiscating and forfeiting etc the proceeds of crime. For an introduction to the power to create secondary legislation under these provisions, and the secondary legislation implemented pursuant to them, see Practice Note: POCA 2002—external investigations, requests and orders—introduction.

Pursuant to the power under POCA 2002, s 444, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, SI 2005/3181 (2005 Order) provides the mechanism for the domestic enforcement

John Binns
John Binns

Partner, BCL Solicitors LLP

I have specialised in financial crime since 2006, having first qualified into a criminal legal aid firm and served a short sentence as a policy adviser to the criminal legal aid scheme. I have successfully defended in a number of major fraud trials, but nowadays specialise in helping corporate clients with the knottier issues involved in the Proceeds of Crime Act and related laws, as well as advising corporates and individuals in connection with criminal investigations and financial sanctions. I write and present a lot on these and related issues, and was an expert witness in the House of Lords on the impact of Brexit on criminal investigations. 

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Mohamed Naleemudeen
Mohamed Naleemudeen

Foreign-qualified lawyer (Australia), BCL Solicitors LLP

Mohamed is an Australian-qualified solicitor, who joined BCL from a leading white-collar crime firm in Australia. Mohamed has experience representing high-net-worth individuals and corporates regarding sanctions, extradition, cross-border investigations, tax disputes, fraud, cybercrime, INTERPOL and regulatory matters. He has also acted for clients in transnational and international crime matters, including advising States and individuals on national security, foreign bribery and crimes against humanity matters. While in Sydney, Mohamed was also a casual academic at the University of New South Wales, teaching an LLM subject about the common law to foreign-qualified lawyers and academics.

Mohamed previously interned at the International Prosecutor’s office at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in 2020, the international tribunal responsible for prosecuting senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge for their roles in Cambodian Genocide. 

Mohamed obtained a Master of Public and International Law (Honours) from the University of Melbourne in 2022. He completed his Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of International Relations from La Trobe University in 2020. Mohamed has published two journal articles and contributed to several legal publications regarding sanctions, data protection, extradition and white-collar crime.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Mutual legal assistance definition
What does Mutual legal assistance mean?

'Mutual legal assistance' is assistance between different States in relation, for example, to the service of process and the obtaining and use of evidence.

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