Police Cooperation EU UK Agreement

TITLE IV: COOPERATION ON OPERATIONAL INFORMATION

Article LAW.OPCO.1: Cooperation on Operational Information

1. The objective of this Title is for the Parties to ensure that the competent authorities of the United Kingdom and of the Member States are able to, subject to the conditions of their domestic law and within the scope of their powers, and to the extent that this is not provided for in other Titles of this Part, assist each other through the provision of relevant information for the purposes of:

(a) the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences;

(b) the execution of criminal penalties;

(d) the prevention and combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

2. For the purposes of this Title, a “competent authority” means a domestic police, customs or other authority that is competent under domestic law to undertake activities for the purposes set out in paragraph 1.

3. Information, including information on wanted and missing persons as well as objects, may be requested by a competent authority of the United Kingdom or of a Member State, or provided spontaneously to a competent authority of the United Kingdom or of a Member State. Information may be provided in response to a request or spontaneously, subject to the conditions of the domestic law which applies to the providing competent authority and within the scope of its powers.

4. Information may be requested and provided to the extent that the conditions of the domestic law which applies to the requesting or providing competent authority do not stipulate that the request or provision of information has to be made or channelled via judicial authorities.

5. In urgent cases, the providing competent authority shall respond to a request, or provide information spontaneously, as soon as possible.

6. A competent authority of the requesting State may, in accordance with relevant domestic law, at the time of making the request or at a later point in time, seek consent from the providing State for the information to be used for evidential purposes in proceedings before a judicial authority. The providing State may, subject to the conditions set out in Title VIII [Mutual Legal Assistance] and the conditions of the domestic law which applies to it, consent to the information being used for evidential purposes before a judicial authority in the requesting State. Equally, where information is provided spontaneously, the providing State may consent to the information being used for evidential purposes in proceedings before a judicial authority in the receiving State. Where consent is not given under this paragraph, the information received shall not be used for evidential purposes in proceedings before a judicial authority.

7. The providing competent authority may, under relevant domestic law, impose conditions on the use of the information provided.

8. A competent authority may provide under this Title any type of information which it holds, subject to the conditions of the domestic law which applies to it and within the scope of its powers. This may include information from other sources, only if onward transfer of that information is permitted in the framework under which it was obtained by the providing competent authority.

9. Information may be provided under this Title via any appropriate communication channel, including the secure communication line for the purpose of provision of information through Europol.

10. This Article shall not affect the operation or conclusion of bilateral agreements between the United Kingdom and Member States, provided that the Member States act in compliance with Union law. It shall also not affect any other powers which are available to the competent authorities of the United Kingdom or of the Member States under applicable domestic or international law to provide assistance through the sharing of information for the purposes set out in paragraph 1.

TITLE VIII: MUTUAL ASSISTANCE

Article LAW.MUTAS.113: Objective

1. The objective of this Title is to supplement the provisions, and facilitate the application between Member States, on the one side, and the United Kingdom, on the other side, of:

(a) the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, done at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959 (the “European Mutual Assistance Convention”);

(b) the Additional Protocol to the European Mutual Assistance Convention, done at Strasbourg on 17 March 1978; and

81 Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States (OJ EU L 190, 18.7.2002, p. 1).

2. This Title is without prejudice to the provisions of Title IX [Exchange of information extracted from the criminal record], which takes precedence over this Title.

Article LAW.MUTAS.114: Definition of competent authority

For the purposes of this Title, “competent authority” means any authority which is competent to send or receive requests for mutual assistance in accordance with the provisions of the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols and as defined by States in their respective declarations addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. “Competent authority” also includes Union bodies notified in accordance with point (c) of Article LAW.OTHER.134(7) [Notifications]; with regard to such Union bodies, the provisions of this Title apply accordingly.

Article LAW.MUTAS.115: Form for a request for mutual assistance

1. The Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation shall undertake to establish a standard form for requests for mutual assistance by adopting an annex to this Agreement.

2. If the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation has adopted a decision in accordance with paragraph 1, requests for mutual assistance shall be made using the standard form.

3. The Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation may amend the standard form for requests for mutual assistance as may be necessary.

Article LAW.MUTAS.116 Conditions for a request for mutual assistance

1. The competent authority of the requesting State may only make a request for mutual assistance if it is satisfied that the following conditions are met:

(a) the request is necessary and proportionate for the purpose of the proceedings, taking into account the rights of the suspected or accused person; and

(b) the investigative measure or investigative measures indicated in the request could have been ordered under the same conditions in a similar domestic case.

2. The requested State may consult the requesting State if the competent authority of the requested State is of the view that the conditions in paragraph 1 are not met. After the consultation, the competent authority of the requesting State may decide to withdraw the request for mutual assistance.

Article LAW.MUTAS.117: Recourse to a different type of investigative measure

1. Wherever possible, the competent authority of the requested State shall consider recourse to an investigative measure other than the measure indicated in the request for mutual assistance if:

(a) the investigative measure indicated in the request does not exist under the law of the requested State; or

(b) the investigative measure indicated in the request would not be available in a similar domestic case.

2. Without prejudice to the grounds for refusal available under the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols and under Article LAW.MUTAS.119 [Ne bis in idem], paragraph 1 of this Article does not apply to the following investigative measures, which shall always be available under the law of the requested State:

(a) the obtaining of information contained in databases held by police or judicial authorities that is directly accessible by the competent authority of the requested State in the framework of criminal proceedings;

(b) the hearing of a witness, expert, victim, suspected or accused person or third party in the territory of the requested State;

(d) the identification of persons holding a subscription to a specified phone number or IP address.

3. The competent authority of the requested State may also have recourse to an investigative measure other than the measure indicated in the request for mutual assistance if the investigative measure selected by the competent authority of the requested State would achieve the same result by less intrusive means than the investigative measure indicated in the request.

4. If the competent authority of the requested State decides to have recourse to a measure other than that indicated in the request for mutual assistance as referred to in paragraphs 1 or 3, it shall first inform the competent authority of the requesting State, which may decide to withdraw or supplement the request.

5. If the investigative measure indicated in the request does not exist under the law of the requested State or would not be available in a similar domestic case, and there is no other investigative measure which would have the same result as the investigative measure requested, the competent authority of the requested State shall inform the competent authority of the requesting State that it is not possible to provide the assistance requested.

Article LAW.MUTAS.118: Obligation to inform

The competent authority of the requested State shall inform the competent authority of the requesting State by any means and without undue delay if:

(a) it is impossible to execute the request for mutual assistance due to the fact that the request is incomplete or manifestly incorrect; or

(b) the competent authority of the requested State, in the course of the execution of the request for mutual assistance, considers without further enquiries that it may be appropriate to carry out investigative measures not initially foreseen, or which could not be specified when the request for mutual assistance was made, in order to enable the competent authority of the requesting State to take further action in the specific case.

Article LAW.MUTAS.119: Ne bis in idem

Mutual assistance may be refused, in addition to the grounds for refusal provided for under the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols, on the ground that the person in respect of whom the assistance is requested and who is subject to criminal investigations, prosecutions or other proceedings, including judicial proceedings, in the requesting State, has been finally judged by another State in respect of the same acts, provided that, if a penalty has been imposed, it has been enforced, is in the process of being enforced or can no longer be enforced under the law of the sentencing State.

Article LAW.MUTAS.120: Time limits

1. The requested State shall decide whether to execute the request for mutual assistance as soon as possible and in any event no later than 45 days after the receipt of the request and shall inform the requesting State of its decision.

2. A request for mutual assistance shall be executed as soon as possible and in any event no later than 90 days after the decision referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article or after the consultation referred to in Article LAW.MUTAS.116(2) [Conditions for a request for mutual assistance] has taken place.

3. If it is indicated in the request for mutual assistance that, due to procedural deadlines, the seriousness of the offence or other particularly urgent circumstances, a shorter time limit than that provided for in paragraph 1 or 2 is necessary, or if it is indicated in the request that a measure for mutual assistance is to be carried out on a specific date, the requested State shall take as full account as possible of that requirement.

4. If a request for mutual assistance is made to take provisional measures pursuant to Article 24 of the Second Additional Protocol to the European Mutual Assistance Convention, the competent authority of the requested State shall decide on the provisional measure, and shall communicate that decision to the competent authority of the requesting State, as soon as possible after the receipt of the request. Before lifting any provisional measure taken pursuant to this Article, the competent authority of the requested State, wherever possible, shall give the competent authority of the requesting State an opportunity to present its reasons in favour of continuing the measure.

5. If in a specific case, the time limit provided for in paragraph 1 or 2, or the time limit or specific date referred to in paragraph 3 cannot be met, or the decision on taking provisional measures in accordance with paragraph 4 is delayed, the competent authority of the requested State shall, without delay, inform the competent authority of the requesting State by any means, giving the reasons for the delay, and shall consult with the competent authority of the requesting State on the appropriate timing to execute the request for mutual assistance.

6. The time limits referred to in this Article do not apply if the request for mutual assistance is made in relation to any of the following offences and infringements that fall within scope of the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols, as defined in the law of the requesting State:

(a) speeding, if no injury or death was caused to another person and if the excess speed was not significant;

(b) failure to wear a seatbelt;

(d) failure to wear a safety helmet; or

(e) using a forbidden lane (such as the forbidden use of an emergency lane, a lane reserved for public transport, or a lane closed down for road works).

7. The Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation shall keep the operation of paragraph 6 under review. It shall undertake to set time limits for the requests to which paragraph 6 applies within three years of the entry into force of this Agreement, taking into account the volume of requests. It may also decide that paragraph 6 shall no longer apply.

Article LAW.MUTAS.121: Transmission of requests for mutual assistance

1. In addition to the channels of communication provided for under the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols, if direct transmission is provided for under their respective provisions, requests for mutual assistance may also be transmitted directly by public prosecutors in the United Kingdom to competent authorities of the Member States.

2. In addition to the channels of communication provided for under the European Mutual Assistance Convention and its Protocols, in urgent cases, any request for mutual assistance, as well as spontaneous information, may be transmitted via Europol or Eurojust, in line with the provisions in the respective Titles of this Agreement.

Article LAW.MUTAS.122: Joint Investigation Teams

If the competent authorities of States set up a Joint Investigation Team, the relationship between Member States within the Joint Investigation Team shall be governed by Union law, notwithstanding the legal basis referred to in the Agreement on the setting up of the Joint Investigation Team.

TITLE IX: EXCHANGE OF CRIMINAL RECORD INFORMATION

Article LAW.EXINF.120: Objective

1. The objective of this Title is to enable the exchange between the Members States, on the one side, and the United Kingdom, on the other side, of information extracted from the criminal record.

2. In the relations between the United Kingdom and the Member States, the provisions of this Title:

(a) supplement Articles 13 and 22(2) of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and its Additional Protocols of 17 March 1978 and 8 November 2001; and

(b) replace Article 22(1) of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, as supplemented by Article 4 of its Additional Protocol of 17 March 1978.

3. In the relations between a Member State, on the one side, and the United Kingdom, on the other side, each shall waive the right to rely on its reservations to Article 13 of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and to Article 4 of its Additional Protocol of 17 March 1978.

Article LAW.EXINF.121: Definitions For the purposes of this Title, the following definitions apply:
(a) “conviction” means any final decision of a criminal court against a natural person in respect of a criminal offence, to the extent that the decision is entered in the criminal record of the convicting State;

(b) “criminal proceedings” means the pre-trial stage, the trial stage and the execution of a conviction;

Article LAW.EXINF.122: Central authorities

Each State shall designate one or more central authorities that shall be competent for the exchange of information extracted from the criminal record pursuant to this Title and for the exchanges referred to in Article 22(2) of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Article LAW.EXINF.123: Notifications

1. Each State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that all convictions handed down within its territory are accompanied, when provided to its criminal record, by information on the nationality or nationalities of the convicted person if that person is a national of another State.

2. The central authority of each State shall inform the central authority of any other State of all criminal convictions handed down within its territory in respect of nationals of the latter State, as well as of any subsequent alterations or deletions of information contained in the criminal record, as entered in the criminal record. The central authorities of the States shall communicate such information to each other at least once per month.

3. If the central authority of a State becomes aware of the fact that a convicted person is a national of two or more other States, it shall transmit the relevant information to each of those States, even if the convicted person is a national of the State within whose territory that person was convicted.

Article LAW.EXINF.124: Storage of convictions

1. The central authority of each State shall store all information notified under Article LAW.EXINF.123 [Notifications].

2. The central authority of each State shall ensure that if a subsequent alteration or deletion is notified under Article LAW.EXINF.123(2) [Notifications], an identical alteration or deletion is made to the information stored in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. The central authority of each State shall ensure that only information which has been updated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article is provided when replying to requests made under Article LAW.EXINF.125 [Requests for information].

Article LAW.EXINF.125: Requests for information

1. If information from the criminal record of a State is requested at domestic level for the purposes of criminal proceedings against a person or for any purposes other than that of criminal proceedings, the central authority of that State may, in accordance with its domestic law, submit a request to the central authority of another State for information and related data to be extracted from the criminal record.

2. If a person asks the central authority of a State other than the State of the person’s nationality for information on the person’s own criminal record, that central authority shall submit a request to the central authority of the State of the person’s nationality for information and related data to be extracted from the criminal record in order to be able to include that information and related data in the extract to be provided to the person concerned.

Article LAW.EXINF.126: Replies to requests

1. Replies to requests for information shall be transmitted by the central authority of the requested State to the central authority of the requesting State as soon as possible and in any event within 20 working days from the date the request was received.

2. The central authority of each State shall reply to requests made for purposes other than that of criminal proceedings in accordance with its domestic law.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, when replying to requests made for the purposes of recruitment for professional or organised voluntary activities involving direct and regular contacts with children, the States shall include information on the existence of criminal convictions for offences related to sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of children, child pornography, solicitation of children for sexual purposes, including inciting, aiding and abetting or attempting to commit any of those offences, as well as information on the existence of any disqualification from exercising activities involving direct and regular contacts with children arising from those criminal convictions.

Article LAW.EXINF.127: Channel of communication

The exchange between States of information extracted from the criminal record shall take place electronically in accordance with the technical and procedural specifications laid down in ANNEX LAW- 6.

Article LAW.EXINF.128: Conditions for the use of personal data

1. Each State may use personal data received in reply to its request under Article LAW.EXINF.126 [Replies to requests] only for the purposes for which they were requested.

2. If the information was requested for any purposes other than that of criminal proceedings, personal data received under Article LAW.EXINF.126 [Replies to requests] may be used by the requesting State in accordance with its domestic law only within the limits specified by the requested State in the form set out in Chapter 2 of ANNEX LAW-6.

3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, personal data provided by a State in reply to a request under Article LAW.EXINF.126 [Replies to requests] may be used by the requesting State to prevent an immediate and serious threat to public security.

4. Each State shall ensure that their central authorities do not disclose personal data notified under Article LAW.EXINF.123 [Notifications] to authorities in third countries unless the following conditions are met:

(a) the personal data are disclosed only on a case-by-case basis;

(b) the personal data are disclosed to authorities whose functions are directly related to the purposes for which the personal data are disclosed under point (c) of this paragraph;

(i) for the purposes of criminal proceedings;

(ii) for any purposes other than that of criminal proceedings; or

(iii) to prevent an immediate and serious threat to public security;

(d) the personal data may be used by the requesting third country only for the purposes for which the information was requested and within the limits specified by the State that notified the personal data under Article LAW.EXINF.123 [Notifications]; and

(e) the personal data are disclosed only if the central authority, having assessed all the circumstances surrounding the transfer of the personal data to the third country, concludes that appropriate safeguards exist to protect the personal data.

5. This Article does not apply to personal data obtained by a State under this Title and originating from that State.