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Article 7 Validity of the Documents 1. Documents transmitted pursuant to this Treaty and attested to by the seal of competent or Central Authority of the transmitting Party are admissible in evidence without further authorization or any other form of certification. 2. At the request of the Requesting Party, the documents transmitted within the framework of this Treaty, may be certified in any other form, as indicated in the request provided that is not contrary to the legislation of the Requested Party. 3. For the purposes of this Treaty the documents which are recognised as official in the territory of one Party shall be recognised as such in the territory of the other Party. Article 8 Confidentiality and the limitations of use of information 1. The Requested Party upon request of the Central Authority of the Requesting Party shall provide in accordance with its legislation for the confidentiality of the fact of the receipt of the request for legal assistance, of its contents or any action taken pursuant to the request, excluding the cases when the breach of confidentiality of the request is necessary for its execution. If the execution of the request makes it necessary to remove this limitation, the Requested Party shall in writing seek the permission of the Requesting Party, without which the request will not be executed. 2. The Requesting Party shall not use the information or evidence obtained under this Treaty without the prior permission of the Requested Party for purposes other than those indicated in the request for legal assistance. 3. In cases where the Requesting Party needs to disclose and use fully or in part the information or evidence for purposes other than those stated in the request, it shall seek the consent of the Requested Party, which may either agree or refuse, fully or partially, such permission, as the case may be. Article 9 Execution of requests for legal assistance 1. Requests for legal assistance shall be executed in accordance with the laws of the Requested Party and the provision of this Treaty. At the request of the Requesting Party, the Requested Party shall grant legal assistance in form and in accordance with any special procedure indicated in the request, insofar as it is not inconsistent with the laws of the Requested Party. 2. If the Requesting Party seeks the presence of the representatives of its competent authorities during the execution of a request, the Requested Party will inform the Requesting Party about its decision. In case of a positive decision, the Requesting Party will be informed beforehand of the time and the place of the execution of the request. 3. The Central Authority of the Requested Party will timely transmit the information and the evidence received consequent to the request to the Central Authority of the Requesting Party. 4. If it is not possible to execute the request in full or in part, the Central Authority of the Requested Party will immediately inform the Central Authority of the Requesting Party of such inability and also the reasons therefore. b. Article 10 Service of Documents 1. In accordance with the request for legal assistance, the Central Authority of the Requested Party shall immediately serve or arrange the service of any procedural documents. 2. The Requesting Party shall transmit a request for the service for the document pertaining to a response or appearance in the territory of the Requesting Party within a reasonable time, before the scheduled response or appearance. 3. Execution of such request shall be confirmed by the document of service indicating the date and signature of the addressee or the statement of the competent authority of the Requested Party, confirming the fact, date and means of service. The Requesting Party shall be promptly informed of the service of documents. Article 11 Taking of evidence in the Requested Party 1. In compliance with its laws, the Requested Party shall in its territory take testimony of witnesses, victims and experts or produce documents, items and evidence indicated in the request and transmit it to the Requesting Party. 2. The representatives of the competent authorities of the Requesting Party that are present at the execution of the request shall be allowed to formulate questions that may be put to the corresponding person through the representative of the competent authority of the Requested Party. 3. The Requesting Party shall observe any conditions imposed by the Requested Party in relation to any documents and objects which may be delivered to it, including conditions for the protection of third party interests in any such documents and objects. V: 4. Upon a request by the Requested Party, the Requesting Party shall, as soon as possible, return the originals of documents and items delivered to it in accordance with Paragraph 1 of this Article. Article 12 Provision of information, documents and objects 1. The Requested Party shall provide the Requesting Party with copies of documents and information of Governmental authorities, which under its laws are publicly available. 2. The Requested Party may, subject to its laws, provide the Requesting Party with any information, documents and objects in possession of a government department or agency but not publicly available, to the same extent and under the same conditions as they would be available to its own law enforcement and judicial authorities. Article 13 Search and Seizure 1. The Requested Party shall, insofar as its law permits, carry out requests for search, seizure and delivery of any material to the Requesting Party which is relevant to an investigation or other proceedings in relation to the pending criminal matter in the Requesting Party, provided that the request includes information enough to justify such action under the laws of the Requested Party. 2. The Requested Party shall provide such information as may be required by the Requesting Party concerning the result of any search, the place of seizure, the circumstances of seizure and the subsequent custody of the material seized. 3. The Requesting Party shall observe any conditions imposed by the Requested Party in relation to any seized material which is delivered to the Requesting Party. Article 14 Location and identification of persons and objects The competent authorities of the Requested Party shall use its best efforts as provided for by its law to ascertain the location and identity of persons and objects specified in the request. Article 15 Request for appearance of witnesses, victims and experts in the territory of the Requesting Party 1. If the Requesting Party submits a request for personal appearance to produce evidence, carry out expert examination or for other procedural measures in its territory, the Requested Party shall inform the person concerned of the request of the Requesting Party to appear before its competent authorities. 2. The request for the person to appear shall contain information on the conditions and requirements to cover cost and the expenses related to the appearance of the summoned person, as well as the list of guarantees which will be provided to the person under Article 16 of this Treaty. 3. The request for the person to appear shall not contain any threat to use coercive measures or penalty in case of a failure of the person to appear in the territory of the Requesting Party. 4. The summoned person will take the decision to appear voluntarily. The Central Authority of the Requested Party shall promptly inform the Central Authority of the Requesting Party of the person's response. V: Article 16 Safe conduct 1. A person present before the competent authority in the Requesting Party notwithstanding its citizenship shall not be subjected to criminal prosecution or administrative responsibility, detained or subjected to any other restriction of personal liberty or punishment in the territory of this Party for any acts which preceded that person's entry into the territory of the Requesting Party. 2. The summoned person shall lose his/her right to inviolability provided for in the Paragraph 1 of this Article if a person, being free to leave the territory of the Requesting Party, has not left it within a period of 15 days after being notified in writing that the person's attendance is no longer required by the relevant competent authority or, having left that territory, has voluntarily returned. 3. The summoned person shall not be forced to present evidence on any other case than that indicated in the request. Article 17 Temporary transferring persons in custody (including those serving punishment in the form of imprisonment) 1. A person in custody (including a person serving a sentence in the form of imprisonment) notwithstanding citizenship, with the consent of the Central Authority of the Requested Party may be temporarily transferred to the Requesting Party to give evidence as a witness or a victim or to assist in other proceedings indicated in the request provided that the person is returned to the Requested Party within the time limit imposed by it. 2. Initial term for which the person may be transmitted shall not exceed 90 days. Upon the request of the Central Authority of the Requesting Party, based on substantial grounds, the term of stay of the transferred person may be extended by the Central Authority of the Requested Party. 3. The order and the conditions of transfer and return of the person shall be coordinated by the Central Authorities of the Parties. 4. The transfer of the person shall be refused: