Towards more effective cross-border cooperation: NDAA endorsement of a draft memorandum of understanding to be implemented by district attorneys and Quebec prosecutors.

• Author: Besner, Jennifer
• Position: National District Attorneys Ass'n

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD THIS BEFORE: 5,522 miles (that's 8,891 kilometres) of shared border, one trillion dollars in bilateral trade annually, and, of course, the numerous professional hockey players Canada generously exports to the U.S. to try to keep the NHL interesting. The importance of the relationship between the United States and Canada hardly requires explanation; as the world grows ever smaller, we are connected in more ways than ever before.

But though our economic and cultural ties may be obvious, Canada and the U.S. are also bound together by some of the less desirable realities of a more globalized world, including the phenomenon of cross-border crime. As the flow of goods, people and information across the border has increased, law enforcement has become more complex as authorities are faced with offences which sometimes touch multiple jurisdictions.

Organised criminal activity, drug-trafficking, cyber-crimes including the dissemination of juvenile pornography, and telemarketing frauds are just a few of the areas that raise cross-border concerns. In cases such as these, events associated with the offence may have occurred in more than one territory, and evidence may be located in places under the authority of different police and prosecution services. Determining the appropriate forum for prosecution and how the relevant evidence and information may be efficiently collected and shared are just a few of the issues facing prosecutors dealing with these cases. To proceed successfully in these situations, there is an obvious need for effective cooperation among district attorneys and their Canadian counterparts.

Recognizing this need, the NDAA's Working Group on Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, headed by James Walsh (County Attorney for Pinal County, Arizona) and Sabin Ouellet (Chief Prosecutor in Quebec City, Quebec), set itself the task of developing an agreement to facilitate cross-border cooperation among prosecutors.

These efforts culminated, at the 2011 summer conference, in the adoption by the NDAA Board of Directors of a draft Memorandum of Understanding. This draft is intended to serve as a template for agreements to be signed subsequently by the Quebec Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions and individual district attorneys. The function of the MOU is not to change any existing laws or to create powers that are not already available to prosecutors on both sides of the border. Its purpose is merely to facilitate the...