A Mutual Legal Assistance Case Study: The United States and France

44 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2017 Last revised: 19 Sep 2017

See all articles by Peter Swire

Peter Swire

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business; Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity and Privacy; Cross-Border Data Forum

Justin Hemmings

Alston & Bird LLP; Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

Suzanne Vergnolle

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)

Date Written: January 19, 2017

Abstract

This article provides a case study involving France and the United States for a topic of growing importance – how to reform the outdated system of “Mutual Legal Assistance” (MLA). Mutual Legal Assistance occurs when one country (such as France) requests evidence held in another country (such as the US) for criminal prosecution, frequently pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The article is part of the broader Georgia Tech Cross-Border Requests for Data Project, addressing MLA reform. The topic has reached a new level of prominence driven by two technological developments: (1) globalized communications, with data often stored abroad by a cloud service provider; and (2) increased use of encrypted communications, so many local wiretaps are ineffective.

The article, building off our prior research on how French criminal procedure operates, examines French and US law in detail to understand the substantive standards that apply to government access to data for criminal prosecutions. Part III explains the US regime, founded on Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful searches and seizures. The United States also has created a multi-tiered set of standards, with different rules, for instance, for: basic subscriber information; metadata such as to/from information; content of stored records; and interception of electronic communications.

Part IV explains the French regime. As a general theme, the French system has a tradition of relying on the acts that can be performed at each stage of the investigation, as well as the investigative authority of a particular actor, such as a magistrate. In contrast, the US system relies more heavily on distinct rules for different categories of electronic evidence. Part V explains the current France/US MLA regime.

Part VI turns to possible MLA reform, with the proposed reform mechanism of an amendment to the U.S. Electronic Communications Privacy Act. This amendment would provide that the relatively strict US laws would no longer apply to some French requests for the content of communications held by US companies. We conclude that the France/US relationship is a good case study for MLA reform, given the large differences in criminal procedure and substantive standards for access to evidence. Building on choice of law principles, the article identifies what factors support current MLA procedures and which ones instead suggest the need for reform.

Suggested Citation

Swire, Peter and Hemmings, Justin and Hemmings, Justin and Vergnolle, Suzanne, A Mutual Legal Assistance Case Study: The United States and France (January 19, 2017). 34 Wisconsin International Law Journal 323 (2017), Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business Research Paper No. 2017-54, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2921289 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2921289

Peter Swire (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States
(404) 894-2000 (Phone)

Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity and Privacy ( email )

Atlanta, GA 30332
United States

Cross-Border Data Forum

Justin Hemmings

Alston & Bird LLP ( email )

950 F Street, NW
1201 W. Peachtree Street
Washington, DC 20004-1404
United States

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30332
United States

Suzanne Vergnolle

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) ( email )

292, rue Saint-Martin
Paris cedex 03, 75141
France

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
328
Abstract Views
2,992
Rank
168,274
PlumX Metrics