Algeria and France on Monday signed in Algiers a convention of institutional cooperation in the judicial field which encompasses counterterrorism, reform of penitentiary policy and handling of minors, APS reported.

Signed by Minister of Justice Tayeb Louh and his French counterpart Christiane Taubira, the convention aims at "strengthening the bilateral cooperation through the promotion of exchange of knowledge and expertise" between the two countries.

This convention also includes the aspect related to the follow-up of the previously defined activities, like the promotion of cooperation between Justice Personnel training academies and the twinning between the judicial Institutions.

In this regard, Louh said that "the relation set up between the judicial institutions in Algeria and France made a great step forward through the signing of a series of conventions as part of the institutional cooperation which endowed a major humanitarian dimension to the bilateral partnership."

He recalled the Declaration of Algiers on Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries signed in 2012 by President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika and French president François Hollande, which constitutes "a judicial framework which encourages the two parties to the parties to go ahead in their bilateral cooperation."

In this context, Louh expressed Algeria’s readiness to update and strengthen these agreements "in compliance with our laws and by promoting the common interest, as this judicial cooperation has become a necessity, especially in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime."

The minister also reaffirmed Algeria’s opportunity with France following the last terrorist acts that targeted Paris.

Source: MENA