Abstract:

Legal assistance in criminal matters between states has gone from elementary extradition of fugitive community members, serfs, one-time assistance in a diplomatic procedure to institutionalized legal assistance on the basis of multilateral and bilateral treaties by other states, from lack of a legislative basis to codification of issues of legal assistance, from inclusion of certain norms on certain aspects of legal assistance in treaties of friendship, peace, cooperation or even surrender to the conclusion of special bilateral treaties At different periods in the history of States, religious, linguistic, kinship, etc., have united to facilitate inter-State relations, including legal assistance in criminal matters. Although most states are secular, the influence of religious norms on interstate relations, including cooperation between states in the area of legal assistance, is undeniable. The provisions of the Holy Quran cover the entire life of Muslims, as well as state activities and interstate relations. For example, despite the fact that the EU is a secular association, “the dialogue with churches, religious associations or communities and philosophical and non-confessional organizations was established in the beginning of the 1990s by EU Commission and allows for an open exchange of views between EU institutions and important parts of European society on EU policies, which offers an opportunity to engage in the European policy making [10]. Assistance in the holy Quran is one of the clearly articulated and widely applied provisions, also applied in the aspect of mutual legal assistance. Integration processes, internationalization of crime create new problems in the provision of legal assistance in criminal cases, which require further improvement and development of this institution, considering historical experience. The treaty practice of the Prophet Muhammad is rich in provisions for the provision of legal assistance in criminal cases between states and each treaty between tribes includes different elements of legal assistance based on the specifics of bilateral and regional relations. We believe that the Prophet Muhammad's treaty practice of providing legal assistance between states in criminal matters is exemplary for modern states, including those states that are or were in unfriendly relations or with different religious beliefs of the population.

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