Mutual legal assistance has become an effective mechanism for gathering evidence in foreign jurisdictions within the framework of criminal proceedings.

The key catalysts include the European integration processes and the de facto equal treatment of requests from Ukraine with those originating from the EU member states.

1. Ukraine is a party to approximately 30 multilateral conventions and around 50 bilateral treaties on mutual legal assistance.
2. Law enforcement authorities have concluded nearly 60 direct Memoranda of Cooperation with their counterparts in foreign states. This enables the prompt exchange of information without bureaucratic procedures.
3. Ukrainian authorities are members of more than 10 specialised groups and networks (including GlobE, ICIN, CARIN, and others), which allows for the automatic exchange of information with dozens of jurisdictions.
4. To investigate cross-border crimes, joint investigation teams are actively utilised in cooperation with authorities from Austria, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, and other countries.

Mutual legal assistance has ceased to be a “subsidiary procedure” and has become a genuine instrument of strategic partnership in criminal justice.

The practice of extraditing suspects to Ukraine underwent a fundamental transformation between 2022 and 2025.

In 2022-2023, courts in Austria, France, Cyprus, Serbia, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, and Italy adopted a common approach: in the majority of cases, extradition was refused.

Grounds for refusal:

• Ukraine’s derogation in 2022 from its obligations under Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights;
• the granting of a number of investigative judge’s powers to prosecutors for the duration of martial law;
• a systemic problem of inadequate conditions of detention;
• risks to life and safety arising from the ongoing war.

N.B. Despite the general trend, a number of EU member states (including Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania) granted extradition requests, predominantly in cases involving “ordinary crimes” (such as violent offences, drug-related crimes, etc.) rather than economic offences.

In 2024, the position of many EU jurisdictions shifted: states began systematically granting Ukrainian requests. A total of 75 individuals were extradited from Poland, Germany, Romania, the Czech Republic, Norway, Italy, Spain, and other countries.

Key factors contributing to extradition:

• Additional assurances regarding detention conditions – Ukraine has designated 17 prisons and pre-trial detention centres located in relatively safe regions, some of which are equipped with separate cells for extradited persons;
• International monitoring – representatives of foreign diplomatic missions have visited certain facilities and confirmed their compliance with international standards;
• Declaration of additional assurances ensuring the right to a fair trial and the right to defence in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s accession to INTERPOL in 1992 granted it access to the most efficient channel of international police cooperation, which the country has actively utilised.

As of early 2025, more than 2,000 individuals were listed in INTERPOL databases at Ukraine’s initiative.

• Red Notices – issued for detention with a view to extradition: 961 individuals.
• Blue Notices – issued to determine a person’s location, obtain additional information, or establish identity: 70 individuals.
• Yellow Notices – issued for the search of missing persons: 891 individuals.

In 2024, 215 individuals were detained abroad and 46 within Ukraine at the request of foreign partners.

Exchange of Tax Information

The tax authorities of Ukraine are actively integrating into international mechanisms for the exchange of information, which is subsequently used in criminal proceedings. The focus is shifting from exchange upon request to automatic exchange.

Exchange instruments:

1. Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – automatic exchange of information on financial accounts, involving over 70 countries. Ukraine receives information, inter alia, from Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, and others; from 2026, Switzerland will also join the list of participating countries.
2. Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) – automatic exchange of reports by multinational groups with an annual consolidated revenue exceeding EUR 750 million.
3. Spontaneous exchange (without a separate request) – conducted under the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, to which 150 states are parties.
4. Exchange under double taxation avoidance agreements – Ukraine is a party to approximately 70 such treaties (including with Cyprus, Luxembourg, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and others).

Exchange of Financial Information

The State Financial Monitoring Service has developed and strengthened an international infrastructure for the exchange of financial information, which is subsequently also used in criminal proceedings.

1. Membership in the Egmont Group (bringing together financial intelligence units from over 170 countries).

This enables the exchange of a wide range of information concerning financial transactions related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and other crimes.

2. Exchange of information under direct Memoranda of Cooperation with the financial intelligence units of foreign states. In total, around 100 Memoranda have been signed, including with EU countries, the UAE, Cyprus, Jersey, and others.

International tax cooperation and collaboration between financial intelligence units have become a systematic source of data for financial investigations, detection of tax evasion, and the fight against money laundering.