On Friday 1 December Russian Federation signed the Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (ETS No.182).

The Protocol is intended to improve States' ability to react to cross-border crime in the light of political and social developments in Europe and technological developments throughout the world. It will therefore serve to improve and supplement the 1959 Convention and the 1978 Additional Protocol to it, in particular by broadening the range of situations in which mutual assistance may be requested and making the provision of assistance easier, quicker and more flexible. It also takes account of the need to protect individual rights in the processing of personal data.