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on CROSS - BORDER cooperation in combating crime
The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Estonia, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties",
seeking to develop and strengthen the relations of friendship and mutual cooperation between the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Estonia;
having regard that crime poses a threat to the social structure, economic system, security and public order of both states;
convinced that cooperation between competent public authorities plays a crucial role in ensuring effective prevention of and fight against crime;
seeking to develop optimal principles, forms and methods of such cooperation;
appreciating the need to implement the provisions of the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders, and the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders signed at Schengen on 19 June 1990, hereinafter referred to as the Schengen Convention;
keeping in mind the provisions of the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959 and its protocols and the Convention established by the Council in accordance with Article 34 of the Treaty on European Union on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union of 29 May 2000;
keeping in mind the provisions of the Agreement of 11 November 1992 between the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Lithuania on legal assistance and legal relations;
guided by the principles of reciprocity, equality and mutual benefit;
respecting international law and their national legislation,
have agreed as follows:
Chapter I
General Provisions
Article 1
Areas of Cooperation
1. Acting pursuant to the present Agreement and their national legislation, the Parties undertake to enhance cooperation between their competent authorities in combating crime and other offences and in taking joint actions.
2. The Parties shall in particular cooperate in combating offences coverable by the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States.
3. The Parties also undertake to cooperate in:
1) locating persons suspected of being involved in the commission of criminal offences or persons evading punishment;
2) locating missing persons and identifying unidentified persons and corpses;
3) locating objects related to committed criminal offences;
4) protecting persons who take part in operational activity or provide assistance to competent authorities of the Parties.
Article 2
Central and Competent Authorities
1. For the purpose of implementation of Articles 39, 40, 41 and 46 of the Schengen Convention and Articles 7 and 8 of this Agreement the central authorities of the Parties shall be the State Police in the Republic of Latvia and Central Criminal Police in the Republic of Estonia.
2. For the purpose of implementing this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties and their designated experts shall cooperate directly. The competent authorities of the Parties are:
- In the Republic of Latvia:
Ministry of the Interior;
State Police;
Security Police;
State Border Guard;
State Revenue Service;
Corruption Preventing and Combating Bureau.
- In the Republic of Estonia:
Ministry of the Interior;
Police Board;
Central Criminal Police;
Central Law Enforcement Police;
Police Prefectures;
Security Police Board;
Board of Border Guard;
Tax and Customs Board;
Prosecutor's Office.
3. The competent authorities of the Parties may, within their competence, exchange liaison officers, conclude agreements on the implementation of this Agreement to specify conditions and procedures of the cooperation, establish joint contact points and, where necessary, hold consultations.
Article 3
Forms of Cooperation
1. For the purpose of implementing this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties shall:
1) exchange experience and information relevant to this Agreement;
2) at the request of the competent authorities of the other Party, take appropriate actions and implement jointly agreed actions, including joint antiterrorist operations, and delegate representatives to joint groups;
3) plan and implement joint crime prevention programmes;
4) at the request of the competent authorities of the other Party, provide technical assistance and special technical equipment.
2. For the purpose of cooperation under this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties may delegate their officers, according to their competence without authority to direct, to perform tasks in the territory of the State of the other Party under control of the competent authority of the latter.
Article 4
Scientific, Technical and Training Cooperation
1. For the purpose of scientific, technical and training cooperation, the competent authorities of the Parties shall:
1) exchange:
a) experience and information, particularly on new forms of criminal activity and new methods and measures for combating crime;
b) professional literature and other material relevant to this Agreement;
2) provide each other with special technical equipment and technical and scientific assistance;
3) organise joint exercise and training.
2. With the view to perfecting their expertise, the competent authorities of the Parties shall exchange experts, particularly in the area of forensic technology and methods of combating crime, and seek to improve their command of the other Party's official language.
3. As part of cooperation, the competent authorities of the Parties shall take actions to:
1) implement the agreed telecommunications equipment and devices;
2) set separate radio frequencies for joint use;
3) exchange telecommunications equipment;
4) install special international communication lines.
4. The competent authorities of the Parties shall exchange legal acts relevant to this Agreement as well as experience in the drafting and application of such legal acts.
Article 5
Requests for Cooperation
1. Cooperation between the competent authorities of the Parties shall be on a request basis. Requests shall be forwarded to the competent authorities of the Parties according to their competence.
2. Requests for cooperation shall be made in writing and delivered through any technical means. In urgencies, requests may be delivered orally, to be immediately followed by a written confirmation.
3. Requests for cooperation shall bear the name of the requesting authority, the subject of the request and justification. Requests for cooperation may be accompanied by other documents pertaining to the subject matter of the request.
4. Where a competent authority of one Party is unable to respond to a request, it shall forward the request to another competent authority of that Party and inform the requesting authority thereabout.
Article 6
Providing Information on Own Initiative
As part of implementation of this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties may deliver information on their own initiative.
Chapter II
Special Forms of Cooperation
Article 7
Surveillance
1. Pursuant to Article 40 of the Schengen Convention, officers of the State Police, State Border Guard and State Revenue Service within the scope of their competence in the Republic of Latvia and officers of the Central Criminal Police, Central Law Enforcement Police, Police Prefectures, Board of Border Guard and Tax and Customs Board within the scope of their competence in the Republic of Estonia who are keeping under surveillance in the territory of the State of the Party a person for an offence coverable by the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States or a person in cases when there is a serious reason to believe that the latter can assist in identifying or tracing such a person, shall be authorised to continue the surveillance in the territory of the State of the other Party, subject to authorisation by a central authority of the latter Party. The authorisation to continue surveillance shall be issued in response to a request from the central authority of the requesting Party and may be subject to certain conditions being met.
2. The surveillance shall be authorised only provided that the following conditions are met:
1) the officers continuing the surveillance must comply with the provisions of this Agreement and with the national legislation of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the surveillance is continued and must obey the legitimate orders of the relevant local authorities of that Party;
2) in the situation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the officers continuing the surveillance shall carry a document certifying that authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 has been granted;
3) the officers continuing the surveillance shall carry official identification cards and communication means;
4) entry by the officers continuing the surveillance into private homes and places not accessible to the public shall be prohibited;
5) the officers continuing the surveillance may neither detain nor arrest the person under surveillance;
6) the use of service weapons is prohibited, except in the case of threat to person's life.
3. Where, in particular urgencies, the authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article cannot be requested in advance, officers shall be authorised to continue the surveillance in the territory of the State of the other Party subject to the following conditions:
1) the surveillance is being carried out for any of the offences coverable by the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States;
2) the central authorities of the Party, in the territory of the State whereof the surveillance is continued, must be notified immediately, already during the surveillance, that the state border has been crossed, indicating the time and place of such crossing;
3) a request referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article must be sent immediately, outlining the grounds for crossing the state border without prior authorisation; surveillance shall be ceased as soon as the central authority of the Party in the territory of the State whereof it is being continued so requests or, where authorisation has not been obtained, five hours after the state border has been crossed.
4. Having terminated the surveillance, the officers who continued the surveillance shall report all circumstances of the surveillance to and may be required to appear before a relevant competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the surveillance was continued. The competent authorities of the Party from which the surveillance officers have come shall, when requested by the competent authority of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the surveillance took place, assist the enquiry subsequent to the operations in which they took part, including judicial proceedings.
Article 8
Hot Pursuit
1. Pursuant to Article 41 of the Schengen Convention, officers of one Party who are pursuing in the territory of the State of that Party an individual for an offence coverable by the Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States shall be authorised to continue hot pursuit in the territory of the State of the other Party. The same shall apply where the person being pursued has escaped from provisional custody or while serving a sentence involving deprivation of liberty.
2. The central authority of that Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is to be continued shall be notified immediately, at the latest upon crossing the state border, that the state border has been crossed, indicating the time and place of such crossing as well as on the weapons and special means carried by the pursuing officers as well as particular means of communication.
3. The central authorities of the Parties shall immediately make a decision to allow or to prohibit the hot pursuit. The hot pursuit shall be ceased immediately at the request of the central authority of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is continued. An oral request to cease the hot pursuit shall immediately be followed by a written confirmation.
4. The hot pursuit may be continued in the territory of the State of the other Party no longer than one hour from the moment of crossing its state border.
5. Upon receipt of the notification of the hot pursuit, the police authorities of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is continued shall immediately take measures to take over the hot pursuit.
6. The officers continuing the hot pursuit must:
1) be easily identifiable as officials, either by their uniform, by means of an armband or by accessories fitted to their vehicles;
2) carry documents certifying that they are acting in an official capacity and produce them every time at the request of officers of the competent authorities of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is continued;
3) not use service weapons, except the case of threat to person's life;
4) comply with the provisions of this Agreement and with the national legislation of the Party in the territory of the State whereof they are operating and must obey the instructions of the competent authorities of that Party;
5) not enter into private homes and places not accessible to the public nor perform any other actions that are contrary to the provisions of the Schengen Convention.
7. The person being pursued shall be detained by the police officers of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is continued; if such officers are unable to intervene quickly enough, the officers continuing the hot pursuit may challenge the person pursued, until the police officers of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is taking place, are able to detain the person pursued.
8. The challenged person may be searched only for security reasons, the objects carried by this person may be seized. Handcuffs may be used for transporting of challenged person to the police authority of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit is taking place.
9. Once the hot pursuit has been terminated, the officers who continued the hot pursuit shall appear before and report, in writing, of all circumstances of the hot pursuit, to the relevant competent authority referred to in paragraph 10 of this Article of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit was continued. The competent authorities of the Party from which the pursuing officers have come shall, when requested by the competent authorities of the Party in the territory of the State whereof the hot pursuit took place, assist the enquiry subsequent to the operations in which they took part, including judicial proceedings.
10. The officers referred to in the previous paragraphs of this Article shall be of the State Police, State Border Guard and State Revenue Service within the scope of their competence in the Republic of Latvia and of the Central Criminal Police, Central Law Enforcement Police, Police Prefectures, Board of Border Guard and Tax and Customs Board within the scope of their competence in the Republic of Estonia.
Chapter III
Joint Actions in Border Regions
Article 9
Border Regions
For the purpose of this Agreement, border regions shall mean territories in which authorities listed in paragraph 1 of Article 10 operate within their competence.
Article 10
Authorities in Border Regions
1. The authorities in border regions are:
- In the Republic of Latvia:
Alūksne Regional Police Board;
Limbaži Regional Police Board;
Valka Regional Police Board;
Valmiera Regional Police Board;
Valmiera Regional Board of the State Border Guard;
Ventspils Regional Board of the State Border Guard
Viļaka Regional Board of the State Border Guard;
Vidzeme Regional Division of the Control Department of the Customs Criminal Board;
- In the Republic of Estonia:
Lõuna Police Prefecture;
Lääne Police Prefecture;
South-East Border Guard District;
West Border Guard District;
Western Tax and Customs Centre;
Southern Tax and Customs Centre.
2. Seeking to ensure efficiency of the cooperation under this Agreement, the authorities in border regions shall, where appropriate, keep direct contacts with each other, within their competence.
Article 11
Joint Performance of Official Duties in Border Regions
1. The authorities in border regions of one Party may, within their competence, delegate their officers to perform their official duties jointly with officers of authorities in border regions of the other Party, in accordance with the national legislation of the Party in the territory of the State whereof such duties are to be performed.
2. Joint performance of official duties shall mean joint patrol and service in joint contact points. The competent authorities of the Parties may agree on other forms of joint performance of official duties.
Article 12
Joint Patrol
1. The authorities in border regions of the Parties may set up, for a limited period of time and for the performance of specific tasks, joint patrol consisting of at least one officer from each Party.
2. Officers on joint patrol shall be subordinated to an officer of the authority in border regions of the Party in the territory of the State whereof they are on patrol.
Article 13
Joint Contact Points
1. To maintain contacts between the competent authorities and authorities in border regions of the Parties, permanent joint contacts points or, where appropriate, joint contact points of a limited duration may be established in border regions.
2. The officers who are on service at joint contact points shall be subordinated to their authority and shall not have the power to direct and carry out operational actions on their own.
3. Each Party shall be responsible for the costs incurred by its officers at joint contact points. The remaining costs shall be distributed proportionally, unless otherwise agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties.
Chapter IV
Other Provisions
Article 14
Legal status of the Officers
For the purpose of investigations into criminal activity committed against or by officers of the competent authorities of one Party who are on service in the territory of the State of the other Party, such officers shall, during the performance of the tasks related to the implementation of this Agreement, be treated as if they were officers of the other Party.
Article 15
Rights of the Officers
1. Officers of the competent authorities of one Party who are on service in the territory of the State of the other Party shall be authorised, during the performance of the tasks related to the implementation of this Agreement, to wear their official uniform or carry visible official marks, use communication means, technical surveillance equipment, official cars as well as other technical equipment. They may also carry an official weapon to be used solely in the case of threat to person's life as well as other special means to be used in accordance with the national legislation of the Party in the territory of the State whereof they are on service. The competent authorities of the Parties shall inform each other of the types of authorised official weapons and other special means.
2. During the performance of the tasks covered in Articles 7, 8 and 11-13 of this Agreement, officers of the competent authorities of one Party who are on service in the territory of the State of the other Party shall be authorised to cross the state border with their official identification cards at any place along the state border.
Article 16
Refusal of Cooperation
Should a competent authority of one Party deem that cooperation under this Agreement might compromise the sovereignty of its State, its security or other essential interests or be contrary to its legislation, it may refuse, in part or in full, to cooperate or make the cooperation conditional on certain requirements.
Article 17
Protection of Classified Information
Parties shall protect the secrecy of the information classified by any of the Parties and received under this Agreement in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties and the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Estonia on Mutual Protection of Classified Information of 26 May 2000.
Article 18
Protection of Personal Data
1. The competent authorities of the Parties shall ensure protection of personal data exchanged between them under this Agreement, in accordance with the European Union law, regulating protection of personal data and in particular with the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data (ETS No 108) done at Strasbourg on 28 January 1981, Additional Protocol to the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data, regarding supervisory authorities and transborder data flows (ETS No 181) done at Strasbourg on 8 November 2001, and Recommendation No R (87) 15 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regulating the use of personal data in the police sector.
2. Subject to paragraph 1 of this Article, the competent authorities of the Parties shall ensure the protection of personal data transmitted under this Agreement, in accordance with the following principles:
1) the receiving authority shall use the personal data transmitted to it solely for the purposes and under the conditions determined by the transmitting authority;
2) at the request of the transmitting authority, the receiving authority shall provide information about the actual use of the personal data transmitted and the results thus achieved;
3) personal data may be transmitted to other than the competent authorities of the Parties only with a prior written authorisation of the transmitting authority and only for the purposes specified in this Agreement;
4) the transmitting authority shall be responsible for the correctness and truthfulness of the personal data transmitted and shall ensure that they are transmitted only to the extent necessary for the purposes of this Agreement; should the personal data transmitted prove to be incorrect or incomplete or where personal data should not have been transmitted at all, the transmitting authority shall immediately notify of this fact the receiving authority and the latter shall rectify or destroy them;
5) the person whose personal data have been transmitted, at his request and in accordance with the national legislation of the relevant Party, must be given information on the data and their intended use; in the interests of national security and public order, such information may be refused;
6) the transmitting authority shall set a period at the expiry whereof the personal data transmitted shall be destroyed; this notwithstanding, the personal data transmitted shall be destroyed when they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they have been transmitted; the transmitting authority shall be immediately notified of all instances and reasons of such destruction of personal data;
7) the transmitting and receiving authorities shall keep records of the transmission, receipt and destruction of personal data;
8) the authorities transmitting and receiving personal data shall properly safeguard them from unauthorised access, alteration without authorisation of the transmitting authority, accidental or unauthorised destruction, or unauthorised disclosure.
3. The principles laid down in paragraph 2 of this Article shall also apply with respect to personal data received by officers of the competent authorities of one Party who take part in the actions specified in this Agreement, in the territory of the State of the other Party.
Article 19
Compensations
1. Neither Party shall claim compensation from the other Party for a loss of or damage to property, where the loss or damage was done in the course of the performance by the officers of the competent authorities of the other Party of the tasks related to this Agreement.
2. Neither Party shall claim compensation from the other Party for injury or death of an officer of a competent authority, where the injury or death has occurred in the course of the performance of the tasks related to this Agreement. This provision shall apply without prejudice to the right of the officer of a competent authority concerned or, in the case of death, of other authorised persons to claim compensation in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties.
3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply where the damage was intentional or the result of gross negligence.
4. If, in the course of the performance of the tasks related to this Agreement, an officer of a competent authority of one Party causes damage to a third person, the damage shall be compensated for by the Party in the territory of the State whereof it was caused, in accordance with the same provisions that would be applicable if the damage had been caused by an officer of a competent authority of that Party.
5. The Party whose officer of a competent authority caused the damage as referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall reimburse the other Party the full amount of the compensation paid to the injured person or to the person entitled to compensation after his death.
6. The provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article shall not apply, where the officer of a competent authority who caused the damage was acting under direct control of an officer of a competent authority of the other Party, unless the damage was intentional or the result of gross negligence.
7. The competent authorities of the Parties shall cooperate closely with each other seeking to facilitate the settlement of claims for compensations. They shall, inter alia, exchange any available information on the damage covered in this Article.
Chapter V
Final Provisions
Article 20
Communications
1. Once this Agreement enters into force, the competent authorities of the Parties shall immediately exchange specimen of their official identification cards and their contact information, through diplomatic channels.
2. The Parties shall communicate to each other any changes in the competence and names of the authorities specified in Articles 2, 7, 8 and 10 of this Agreement, through diplomatic channels.
Article 21
Costs
The competent authorities of the Parties shall be liable for the costs of their own actions related to the implementation of this Agreement. Other procedure for covering the costs may be agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties on a case-by-case basis.
Article 22
Languages for Cooperation
For the purpose of implementing this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties cooperate using their official or any other agreed language.
Article 23
Dispute Settlement
1. Any dispute concerning the interpretation and application of this Agreement shall be settled by way of direct negotiation or consultations between the competent authorities of the Parties according to their competence.
2. Should no agreement be reached by way of negotiation or consultations as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the dispute shall be settled through diplomatic channels without recourse to any third party.
Article 24
Relation with other Agreements
This Agreement shall be without prejudice to any international agreements on legal assistance in criminal matters or rights and obligations of the Parties arising out of international multilateral or bilateral agreements.
Article 25
Amendments and Supplements
This Agreement may be amended and supplemented upon mutual written agreement between the Parties or in the form of separate protocols, which shall become an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 26
Entry into Force
1. This Agreement is made for an unlimited period of time and shall enter into force thirty days after the date of receipt of the last notification whereby the Parties have notified each other of the fulfilment of the internal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to Articles 7 and 8 of this Agreement, which shall enter into force on the date of abolition of border controls at the common state border of the Parties.
3. Either Party may terminate this Agreement by a notification. In such case, the termination shall take effect six months after the date of receipt by the other Party of the notification on the termination of this Agreement.
DONE at Vilnius, 2006 on June 7 in two original copies in the Latvian, Estonian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation of the text of this Agreement the English text shall prevail.
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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
LATVIA |
ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
ESTONIA |
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