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Author	Mr SAHIL
Organisation/Institution	Jamiahamdard(deemed to be university),New Delhi
Country	INDIA
Panel	Criminal Law
Title	Broken Chains of Cooperation: MLAT Failures in South Asia and Their Impact on Transnational organised crimes Prosecutions.
Abstract	Transnational organised crimes in south Asia are sustained by criminal cartels exploiting vulnerable population but also by the structural weaknesses in interstate legal cooperation. Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs), which govern cross border exchange of extradition requests and evidence sharing are intended to provide strong foundation for transnational criminal prosecution. However, in south Asia MLAT implementation remains opaque and often subordinate to political interests rather than legal necessity. This paper aim to examines how failures in MLAT frameworks obstructs the effective prosecution of transnational organised crimes especially drug trafficking, human trafficking in the region. This study seeks to highlights, legal inconsistencies in definition and punishment, institutional barrier in evidence sharing, extradition and digital data access, operational gaps in SAARC and ASEAN. Methodologically, this paper adopts qualitative- comparative approach. It analyses regional case laws involving cross border trafficking, reports from UNDOC, SAARC and ASEAN convention on trafficking, local anti-trafficking laws and MLAT treaty texts. Interviews and policy commentaries are used to interpret enforcement gaps. A thematic content analysis approach will identify recurring structural institutional failures evidentiary delays, extradition refusals, definitional conflicts. This paper anticipates that south Asia’s MLAT regime is not procedurally or technologically aligned with transnational organised crimes realities. It argues for a regional digital evidence gateway facilitating real time coordination, building procedural timelines for MLAT responses and a harmonised definitions of Drug and human trafficking. South Asia’s anti trafficking framework will remain aspirational rather than operational Key words: South Asia, Transnational, Organised Crimes, MLAT.
Biography	Sahil is a doctoral researcher at Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi, India, specializing in transnational organized crimes with the focus on how digitisation is reshaping criminality, trafficking and destabilising governance. He was awarded the prestigious junior research fellowship by the Government of India in recognition of his academic merits. He has presented papers on trafficking at several leading national law universities in India and on cross-border maritime trafficking at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has also completed credit courses on human rights, social justice, disability, gender and vulnerable communities from National law university Odisha, India and holds a certification on the human rights-based approach to climate change, disaster and human mobility nexus from Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian law sweden. His broader academic interests includes comparative criminal law, digital governance and regional security studies