International Legal Assistance for Document Handover to Foreign Authorities in Drug Investigation

In a case concerning international legal assistance where authorities sought the handover of documents seized from an individual facing domestic drug-related charges, based on a request from foreign authorities investigating his spouse for aiding and abetting, the court held that the husband, as a co-accused, could not prevent the document release by invoking his right to refuse testimony or by disputing the documents' criminal relevance. The court reasoned that as a co-accused, he could not rely on the right to refuse to testify (§ 114 Abs. 3 StPO) to block the handover of items, even if he could refuse to testify against a co-accused, and furthermore, the assessment of the documents' criminal relevance falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the requesting foreign criminal proceedings, requiring handover if the items have potential relevance to the alleged offense.