A/HRC/44/47 offences are described in a long list.29 The other particularly powerful obligation deriving from the Convention concerns joint investigations. 30 Under most domestic legislation, prosecutors and prosecution services are responsible for any action taken. 38. Mutual assistance and cooperation imply, in their own right, an effective exchange of information and institutional efforts. According to the experts who attended the seventh open-ended intergovernmental expert meeting to enhance international cooperation under the Convention, guidance, templates and information are useful in facilitating the formulation of effective international cooperation requests.31 39. This is directly aligned with the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors as a conceptual framework for the independence and integrity of prosecutors, which are the fundamental preconditions set forth in article 11 of the Convention as the basis for establishing prosecutors as legitimate interlocutors with respect to mutual assistance and joint investigations. The main objective set out in the Guidelines, of which there are 24, is precisely to assist Member States in “securing and promoting the effectiveness, impartiality and fairness of prosecutors in criminal proceedings”, as stated in the preamble. The Guidelines are supplemented by the Standards of Professional Responsibility and Statement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors of the International Association of Prosecutors and supported by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. 40. The above-mentioned instruments, together with the analysis contained in the report submitted by the Special Rapporteur in 2012, 32 set out the guarantees and minimum standards that must be observed by prosecution services and respected by other institutions as conditions ensuring their independence and impartiality. These include areas related to professional qualifications, selection and training, status and conditions of service, freedom of expression and of association, the role of prosecutors in criminal proceedings, discretionary functions, alternatives to prosecution, relations with other government agencies or institutions and disciplinary proceedings. 41. In the sphere of cooperation, there are several criminal matters that to a large extent concern prosecutors, namely extradition, the transfer of sentenced persons, mutual legal assistance, the transfer of criminal proceedings and cooperation in law enforcement and joint investigations. 42. These are not ancillary or incidental elements of the Convention; rather, they are essential matters which are closely related to the powers of prosecutors. Following an assessment it conducted in 2017 to review the reports submitted by countries during the first cycle of the mechanism to evaluate the implementation of the Convention, 33 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that in matters of international cooperation countries generally regard the bilateral and regional frameworks by which they are bound as “priority” legal bases for extradition and mutual legal assistance on corruption-related offences.34 43. Under this normative and conceptual logic, the actions of prosecution services must be based on objectivity, impartiality, coherence and respect for the law and aligned with 29 30 31 32 33 34 8 Ibid. Art. 49. CAC/COSP/EG.1/2018/4, Report of the seventh open-ended intergovernmental expert meeting to enhance international cooperation under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, held in Vienna on 8 June 2018, para. 18. A/HRC/20/19. See also the report of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Association of Prosecutors, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The report addresses particular issues of prosecutorial independence and is available at https://www.iap-association.org/Conferences/AnnualConferences/23rd-Annual-Conference. Chapter VII of the Convention regulates the mechanisms for implementation. Article 63 (1) establishes a Conference of States Parties to the Convention to “promote and review” its implementation. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, State of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption: Criminalization, Law Enforcement and International Cooperation, 2nd ed., 2017, p. 211. GE.20-04343