12 AVRIL 2004. - An Act to approve the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on Police Cooperation, signed in Brussels on 22 January 2001 (1) (2)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on Police Cooperation, signed in Brussels on 22 January 2001, will come out its full and full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given at Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, April 12, 2004.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
Minister of Interest,
P. DEWAEL
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Notes
(1) Session 2003-2004.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 4 November 2003, No. 3-295/1. Report, No. 3-295/2.
Annales talks. - Discussion and voting. Session of January 8, 2004.
House of Representatives.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 51-688/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 51-688/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of February 5, 2004.
(2) This Agreement comes into force on 1^er July 2004.
Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on Police Cooperation
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BELGIUM ROYAUME
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SLOVENIA REPUBLIC
the Contracting Parties,
based on:
The aim of promoting relations of friendship and cooperation between the two States, and in particular on the common desire to strengthen police cooperation among them;
The desire to strengthen this police cooperation within the framework of the international commitments undertaken by the two States in respect of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the Convention of the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950 and the Council of Europe Convention No. 108 of 28 January 1981 for the protection of persons with regard to the automated processing of personal data;
Considering that international organized crime poses a serious threat to the socio-economic development of the Contracting States, and that recent developments in international organized crime endanger their institutional functioning;
Considering that the fight against trafficking in human beings and the suppression of illegal entry and exits of the territory of States and illegal migration, as well as the elimination of organized channels participating in these illegal acts, are a concern of the Governments and parliaments of the Contracting States;
Considering that the illegal production and trade of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances constitute a danger to the health and safety of citizens;
Considering that the only harmonization of relevant legislation is not sufficient to combat the phenomenon of clandestine migration with sufficient efficiency;
Considering that the need for effective international police cooperation in the field of organized crime and illegal migration, including through the exchange and processing of information, is essential to combat and prevent such criminal and criminal activities;
Considering that the fulfilment of this need requires a series of appropriate measures and close cooperation between the Contracting Parties;
Determined to conclude this Agreement
Definitions
Article 1
For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. International trafficking in human beings, any following intentional behaviour:
(a) facilitate the entry into the territory of the State of the Contracting Party, the transit, the stay or the exit in that territory if it is made use, for that purpose, of the constraint, including violence or threats, or if there is recourse to deception, abuse of authority or other forms of pressure in such a way that the person has other genuine and acceptable choices only to subject himself to such pressures;
(b) exploit in any way an informed person that the person has entered, transited or resided in the territory of the State of the Contracting Party of the Agreement under the conditions specified in (a).
2. Sexual exploitation of children
Any form of sexual exploitation and sexual violence referred to in article 34 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989, including the production, sale, distribution or other forms of trafficking in pornographic material involving children and the personal detention of such material.
3. Technical assistance
By technical assistance, the logistical support provided to police and migration services must be understood.
4. Nuclear and radioactive material crime
Offences as listed in Article 7 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material of 3 March 1980.
5. Money laundering
Offences as listed in Article 6 paragraphs 1 to 3 of the Council of Europe Convention relating to the laundering, detection, seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime of 8 November 1990.
6. Organized crime
Any offence committed by a "criminal organization", defined as a structured association, of more than two persons, established in time and acting in a concerted manner with a view to committing offences punishable by deprivation of liberty or a measure of custodial security of up to four years or more, such offences constitute an end in itself or a means to obtain property benefits, and, where applicable,
7. Processing of personal data
By personal data, any information concerning an identified or identifiable natural person must be heard (the data subject); is deemed to be identifiable a person who may be identified, directly or indirectly, including by reference to an identification number or to one or more specific elements, specific to his or her physical, physiological, psychic, economic, cultural or social identity.
By processing personal data, it is necessary to hear any operation or set of operations carried out or not using automated processes, and applied to personal data, such as the collection, recording, organization, preservation, adaptation or modification, extraction, consultation, use, communication by transmission, diffusion or any other form of disposal, removal or interconnection,
8. Narcotics
The term "stupid" means any substance, whether natural or synthetic, contained in Table I or Table II of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 30 March 1961 as amended by the Protocol of 25 March 1972 amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961.
9. Psychotropic substance
The term "psytropic substance" means any substance, whether natural or synthetic, or any natural product in Table I, II, III or IV of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 21 February 1971.
10. Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances
The term "illegal trafficking" refers to the cultivation, manufacture or trafficking of narcotics or psychotropic substances contrary to the purposes of the Convention of 30 March 1961 on Narcotic Drugs, the Convention of 21 February 1971 on Psychotropic Substances or the United Nations Convention of 20 December 1988 on the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
11. Urgent request
An application shall be deemed to be urgent in cases where the passage by formal administrative procedure to the central bodies determined in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement may interfere with or compromise preventive or research action.
Areas of cooperation
Article 2
1. The Contracting Parties undertake to mutually agree, in accordance with the rules and conditions set out in this Agreement, the broadest cooperation with respect to police cooperation.
2. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in the prevention, repression and prosecution of serious offences involving organized crime, in particular:
- offences against the life and physical integrity of persons;
- offences related to the production, processing and illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;
- the offences related to the production, trade, prescription and administration of hormone, anti-hormonal, beta-adrenergic or production stimulator effects, exploitation animals, as well as the offences related to the trade in the animals of exploitation and meat of these exploiting animals to which these substances are administered and finally the offences related to the treatment of such meat;
- illegal immigration;
- procuring, trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children;
- extortion;
- theft, trafficking and illegal trade of weapons, ammunition, explosives, radioactive substances, nuclear materials and other dangerous substances;
- falsifications (fabrication, counterfeiting, processing and distribution) of means of payment, cheques and other securities;
- the falsification and use of any falsified official document;
- economic and financial crime;
- offences against property, including theft, trafficking in works of art and historical objects;
- theft, illegal trade and traffic of motor vehicles;
- money laundering.
3. Serious crimes of organized crime that are not defined in Article 1^er shall be appreciated by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties according to the national legislation of the States to which they belong.
Article 3
Collaboration between contracting parties will also include:
- searching for missing persons and helping to identify bodies;
- the search on the territory of the State of a Contracting Party of objects disappeared, stolen, diverted or misplaced in the territory of the other State.
Means of cooperation
Article 4
The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in the areas specified in Articles 2 and 3 of this Agreement:
- the exchange of information on areas within the jurisdiction of the police and immigration authorities;
- exchange of equipment;
- technical and scientific assistance, expertise and supplies of specialized technical equipment;
- an exchange of experiences;
- cooperation in the field of vocational training;
- assistance in the preparation of requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters;
in accordance with the following provisions.
The exchange of information
Article 5
The Contracting Parties will provide assistance and close and ongoing cooperation. In particular, it will exchange all relevant and important information.
This cooperation may take the form of permanent contact through liaison officers to be designated.
Article 6
1. The Contracting Parties undertake to ensure that their police authorities agree, in accordance with their national law and within their competence, assistance for the prevention and search for punishable acts, provided that the national law of the requested Contracting Party does not reserve the request or its execution to the judicial authorities.
2. In special cases, each Contracting Party may, in accordance with its national law and without being required, communicate to the Contracting Party concerned information that may be important to the Contracting Party concerned for the purpose of assisting in the prevention and suppression of offences as referred to in Article 2 paragraphs two and three of this Agreement or for the prevention of threats to public order and security.
Article 7
Any information provided by the requested Contracting Party may not be used by the requesting Contracting Party for the purpose of providing evidence of the facts incriminated only after a request for mutual legal assistance in accordance with the provisions of applicable international law.
Article 8
1. Requests for assistance and responses to these requests must be exchanged between the central bodies responsible, by each Contracting Party, for international police cooperation and immigration.
When the request cannot be made in a timely manner by the above-mentioned channel, it may, exceptionally and in an emergency only, be addressed by the competent authorities of the requesting Contracting Party directly to the competent authorities of the requested Party and they may respond directly to it. In these exceptional cases, the requesting authority must notify, as soon as possible, the central body responsible, in the required Contracting Party, for international police cooperation and immigration, of its direct request and to motivate its urgency.
2. The determination of the central bodies responsible for international police cooperation and immigration as well as the modalities of mutual assistance shall be resolved by arrangements to be concluded between the competent authorities designated by the Contracting Parties.
Article 9
The Contracting Party that has received the information must guarantee the degree of confidentiality that the issuing Contracting Party has assigned to the information. The degrees of confidentiality are those used by INTERPOL.
Article 10
1. Contracting Parties may detach, for a specified or indeterminate duration, liaison officers from a Contracting Party to the other Contracting Party.
2. The detachment of liaison officers for a specified or indeterminate duration is intended to promote and accelerate cooperation between Contracting Parties, including by agreeing assistance
(a) in the form of an exchange of information for the purposes of both preventive and repressive fight against crime;
(b) in the execution of requests for mutual assistance in criminal matters;
(c) for the purpose of carrying out missions of the authorities responsible for the monitoring of external borders and immigration;
(d) for the purpose of carrying out the missions of the authorities responsible for the prevention of threats to public order.
3. Liaison officers have an advisory and assistance mission. They are not competent for the autonomous execution of police measures. They provide information and carry out their missions in accordance with the instructions given to them by the Contracting Party of origin and by the Contracting Party to which they are detached. They regularly report to the central body responsible for international police cooperation and immigration of the Contracting Party to which they are detached.
4. Contracting Parties may agree that liaison officers of a Contracting Party seconded to third States shall also represent the interests of the other Contracting Party.
Protection of personal data
Article 11
1. Pursuant to this Agreement, the processing of personal data is subject to the respective national law of each Contracting Party.
2. With regard to the processing of personal data pursuant to this Agreement, Contracting Parties undertake to achieve a level of protection of personal data that complies with the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention of 28 January 1981 for the protection of persons with respect to the automated processing of personal data and Recommendation R (87) 15 of 17 September 1987 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to regulate the use of personal data.
3. With regard to the processing of personal data transmitted under this Agreement, the following provisions apply:
(a) data may only be used by the recipient Contracting Party for the purposes provided for in this Agreement;
(b) data may be used only by the judicial authorities and other competent authorities who perform a task or perform a function for the purposes referred to in this Agreement and in particular articles 2 and 3. Parties will provide the user list;
(c) the Contracting Party that transmits the data shall ensure its accuracy and completeness. It is also required to ensure that these data are not retained longer than necessary. If it finds either on its own initiative or on the basis of a request from the data subject, that incorrect data or that should not have been transmitted have been provided, the recipient Contracting Party shall be informed without delay; the data must be corrected or destroyed;
(d) a Contracting Party may not invoke the fact that another Contracting Party has transmitted incorrect data to discharge its responsibility under its national law with respect to an injured person;
(e) the transmission and receipt of personal data shall be recorded. The Contracting Parties shall communicate the list of authorities authorized to consult the registration;
(f) access to data is governed by the national law of the Contracting Party to which the data subject submits its application. The communication of the data to the applicant is only possible after requesting permission from the Contracting Party that is the source of the data;
(g) the data may only be used by the Contracting Party to whom it is intended for the sole purpose specified by the Contracting Party to provide it and in accordance with the conditions imposed by that Contracting Party;
4. In addition, with respect to transmission, the following provisions apply:
(a) data can only be transmitted to police and immigration authorities; the communication of data to other authorities that pursue the same objectives as those authorities and act in that same framework may only take place after the written prior authorization of the Contracting Party providing them;
(b) upon request, the recipient Contracting Party shall inform the Contracting Party which shall transmit the data of the use made and the results obtained on the basis of the data transmitted.
5. Each Contracting Party shall designate a supervisory authority, in accordance with national law, to exercise in its territory independent control of the personal data processing carried out on the basis of this Agreement and to verify whether such treatments are not in violation of the rights of the person concerned. These supervisory authorities are also competent to analyse the difficulties of applying or interpreting this Agreement concerning the processing of personal data. These supervisory authorities may agree to cooperate in the missions recognized by this Agreement.
Article 12
If personal data is transmitted through a liaison officer referred to in Article 10, the provisions of this Agreement shall also apply.
Refusal of assistance
Article 13
1. Each of the Contracting Parties refuses assistance when it comes to political or military offences. Each person may refuse assistance or subject it to conditions when it is related to political or military offences.
2. Each Contracting Party shall refuse assistance if it is contrary to the legal provisions in force in its territory.
3. Each Party may refuse assistance or subject it to conditions where the delivery of assistance could threaten the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests of the State.
Other forms of cooperation
Article 14
1. The Contracting Parties agree to provide mutual assistance in the field of vocational training and technical assistance for problems related to the operation of the police.
2. The Contracting Parties agree to exchange their practical experiences in all areas covered by this Agreement.
3. The terms of mutual assistance are settled by arrangements between the Contracting Parties.
Article 15
1. Contracting Parties may establish permanent or occasional working groups to address common problems relating to the suppression and prevention of crime referred to in Article 2, paragraphs two and three, and areas of cooperation referred to in Article 3, and to develop, where appropriate, proposals to improve, where appropriate, the practical and technical aspects of cooperation between Contracting Parties.
2. The costs of cooperation shall be borne by each Contracting Party, unless otherwise provided by the representatives of the Contracting Parties.
3. The Contracting Parties shall establish a joint assessment commission that shall report every three years to the competent authorities designated by the Contracting Parties.
Settlement of disputes
Article 16
1. Any dispute arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be resolved by a joint consultative commission established for that purpose.
2. The Commission will be composed of representatives of the two Contracting Parties. It shall meet at the request of either Contracting Party or whenever necessary in order to facilitate the resolution of problems arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement.
3. Any dispute unresolved by the Joint Consultative Commission shall be dealt with by diplomatic means.
Final provisions
Article 17
This Agreement does not impede the rights and obligations arising from the more comprehensive, bi- or multilateral commitments entered into or concluded in the future between or by the Contracting Parties.
Article 18
1. The Contracting Parties shall, in writing and through diplomatic channels, notify each other of the fulfilment of the formalities of domestic law required for the entry into force of this Agreement.
2. The Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date of receipt of the last notification.
3. This Agreement shall be concluded for an unlimited period of time. Any Contracting Party may denounce it by means of a diplomatic written notification to the other Contracting Party. The denunciation will take effect 6 months after the date of its receipt.
Article 19
Any Contracting Party may send to the other Contracting Party any proposals to amend this Agreement. The Contracting Parties agree to the amendments to this Agreement.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized to do so, have affixed their signature to the bottom of this Agreement.
Made in Brussels on 22 January 2001 in two original copies, in each of the Slovenian, French and Dutch languages, the three texts being equally authentic.