this work considers the historical development of the Act on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which came into effect in 1983. It focuses on presenting the development of this legal institution as well as the development process of additional reforms pertaining to legal assistance. In view of the current development of the law concerning legal assistance, this work also seeks to make the development process of the Act on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters applicable to issues such as the legal status of the persecuted and the three dimensional nature of the legal assistance procedure.