ARTICLE 5
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EXECUTION OF REQUESTS
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The Central Authority of the Requested Party shall promptly execute the request or, when appropriate, shall transmit it to the authority having jurisdiction to do so. The competent authorities of the Requested Party shall do everything in their power to execute the request. The courts of the Requested Party shall have authority to issue subpoenas, search warrants, or other orders necessary to execute the request.
When necessary, the request shall be presented to the appropriate authority by the persons designated by the Central Authority of the Requested Party.
Requests shall be executed in accordance with the laws of the Requested Party except to the extent that this Treaty provides otherwise. However, the method of execution specified in the request shall be followed except insofar as it is prohibited by the laws of the Requested Party.
If the Central Authority of the Requested Party determines that execution of a request would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding in the territory of that party, it may postpone execution, or make execution subject to conditions determined necessary after consultations with the Central Authority of the Requesting Party. If the Requesting Party accepts the assistance subject to the conditions it shall comply with the conditions.
The Requested Party shall use its best efforts to keep confidential a request and its contents if such confidentiality is requested by the Central Authority of the Requesting Party. If the request cannot be executed without breaching the required confidentiality, the Central Authority of the Requested Party shall so inform the Central Authority of the Requesting Party, which shall then determine whether the request should nevertheless be executed.
The Central Authority of the Requested Party shall respond to reasonable inquiries by the Central Authority of the Requesting Party on progress toward execution of the request.
The Central Authority of the Requested Party shall promptly inform the Central Authority of the Requesting Party of the outcome of the execution of the request. If the request is denied, the Central Authority of the Requested Party shall inform the Central Authorty of the Requesting Party of the reasons for the denial.
DRAFT U.S.-HONG KONG MLAT TEXT, NOVEMBER 22, 1988