A/HRC/35/33 international cooperation. Regardless of whether a State is party to those treaties, domestic law should have flexible rules to allow for cooperation in a range of circumstances. 8 10. In order to send and receive requests for assistance efficiently, a central authority should be established to coordinate the process. That authority should provide easy access to up-to-date contact information for all relevant law enforcement authorities within the State and elsewhere.9 It should also be adequately funded and staffed with mutual legal assistance specialists who can advise those seeking assistance about core procedural requirements. Ideally, staff would be available to handle requests at all times, have the ability to translate different languages and have the capacity to deal with requests made under different treaties. In addition, central authorities should have a system in place to track the status of requests, prioritize urgent appeals and ensure that deadlines are met. 11. States should encourage law enforcement to cooperate in cross-border cases and adequately train authorities on how best to do so. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed many tools to help authorities send and respond to requests for mutual legal assistance.10 12. Many practitioners identified joint investigation teams as an effective tool to be used in cross-border cases. 11 The European Union has notably supported such teams through legislative efforts 12 and its institutions such as Eurojust. In the absence of such teams, parallel investigations should be explored in which States coordinate their actions so as to increase each investigation’s effectiveness and range of targets. Another useful model concerns the establishment of joint centres of investigation. Under that model, investigators from different States work together at a facility in a single State on the same issue. Such a centre has recently been opened in Austria to combat cross-border trafficking in persons. 13 13. Although such formal means of cooperating are essential for any cross-border case, it was emphasized repeatedly during the Working Group’s consultations that informal cooperation was used much more frequently and often yielded better results. Informal cooperation was faster, less expensive and more flexible than requests for mutual legal assistance or letters rogatory for exchange of information. In addition, informal communication could help build a stronger basis and target a request for formal assistance. While a formal letter to counterparts should be sent, experts stressed that, in practice, a personal meeting or telephone conversation was needed to establish some level of trust as a precursor to a working relationship. 14. Joining networks is also a useful way of building trust with foreign counterparts. International14 and regional 15 associations of investigators and prosecutors often organize conferences to share best practices and promote cross-border relationships. Those associations also have other resources, such as training documents and online communication tools, to foster cooperation. States are highly encouraged to support and utilize organizations that help with operational matters, such as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the European Police Office (Europol) and the Chiefs of Police of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 For example, the Swiss Mutual Assistance Act of 20 March 1981, governing mutual legal assistance procedures both when an applicable treaty exists and in the absence of one. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides an Online Directory of Competent National Authorities, available from www.unodc.org/cld/en/v3/sherloc/cnadir.html. For example, the UNODC mutual legal assistance request writer tool, available from www.unodc.org/mla/en/index.html. See also UNODC, Manual on Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition (Vienna, 2012), available from www.unodc.org/documents/organizedcrime/Publications/Mutual_Legal_Assistance_Ebook_E.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/OHCHRstudyondomesticlawremedies.aspx for a link to illustrative examples of considerations when developing a joint investigation team agreement. See, for example, Council Framework Decision 2002/465/JHA, available from http://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32002F0465. See www.europol.europa.eu/partners-agreements/member-states/austria. For example, the International Association of Prosecutors. For example, the South Eastern European Prosecutors Advisory Group, Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors and Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization. 5