As one example, if we were to execute a search warrant on a company in the United States or any other signatory, we would have to present our case to our judge and get him to approve it under the prima facie case that there are enough reasonable grounds to believe something has occurred. We then take it to our international systems group, where they liaise with the Department of Justice or the other country of origin, and they try to craft the documentation so it meets the needs of the jurisdiction in which it may be served, which is tricky because there are many different articles.
Then it goes across and is given to the police, or the FBI, or whomever it is they are dealing with. Then it gets presented to another judge, and then execution of the search warrant takes place. Depending on what the request is, it could be 30 days, 40 days, or 50 days just to get that back, depending again....
The time it takes between when we start the process and the time we get the data back can be 18 months. That's not uncommon, sadly.