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Law Approving The Law Approving The Agreement Between The Government Of The Kingdom Of Belgium And The Government Of The Federal Republic Of Germany Concerning Cooperation Between Police Authorities And Customs Administrations

Original Language Title: Loi portant assentiment à la loi portant assentiment à l'Accord entre le Gouvernement du Royaume de Belgique et le Gouvernement de la République Fédérale d'Allemagne relatif à la coopération entre les autorités de police et les administrations douanières

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12 JULY 2002. - Act enacting the Act enacting the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on Cooperation between the Police Authorities and Customs Authorities in Border Regions, done in Brussels on 27 March 2000 (1)



ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on Cooperation between the Police Authorities and Customs Authorities in the Border Regions, made in Brussels on 27 March 2000, will come out its full and complete 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 in Brussels on 12 July 2002.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
The Minister of the Interior,
A. DUQUESNE
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Notes
(1) Session 2001-2002.
Senate.
Documents.
Bill tabled on 24 January 2002, No. 2-1022/1. - Report made on behalf of the commission, no. 2-1022/2.
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, meeting of 27 March 2002. - Vote, meeting of 28 March 2002.
Room.
Session.
Documents.
Project transmitted by the senate, no. 50-1726/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 50-1726/2.
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, meeting of May 23, 2002. - Vote, meeting of 23 May 2002.
(2) The Agreement entered into force on 23 October 2002.

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BELGIUM ROYAUME AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GERMANY REPUBLIC RELATING TO THE COOPERATION IN THE POLICE AUTHORITY AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FRONTAL REGIONS
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and
The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany,
in agreement with the Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine/Westphalia,
anxious to promote relations of friendship and cooperation between the two States and reaffirming their commitment to intensify cooperation between the police authorities and customs administrations in the Belgian-German border regions, with the aim of continuing to preserve public security, preventing and combating crime, in particular organized crime, as well as illegal immigration and human trafficking,
intending to develop and intensify, in the interest of the two Parties, the cooperation between limited police and customs authorities in their police mission in the border regions, pursuant to the Schengen Agreement Implementation Convention of 14 June 1985, signed on 19 June 1990 and taking into account the cooperation so far varied and fruitful,
agreed:
Part I. - Scope of application. - Definitions
Article 1er
For the purposes of the Schengen Agreement Implementation Convention of 14 June 1985, signed on 19 June 1990, (Schengen Implementation Convention), border regions are defined as:
(a) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
the judicial districts of:
- Eupen;
- Glasses;
- Liege;
- Tongeren.
(b) in the Federal Republic of Germany:
for Rhineland-Palatinate: the Polizeibezirk of Trier.
for North Rhine/Westphalia:
- the city of Aachen;
- the cantons of Düren, Euskirchen, Heinsberg.
Article 2
1. In the area of prevention of threats to public security as well as in the prevention and suppression of offences, Contracting Parties intensify cooperation between the authorities and the police services, the Bundesgrenzschutz and the customs administration.
2. The authorities referred to in articles 3 and 4, the services that depend on it and the operational forces in it work closely and directly together within their competence.
This collaboration focuses on:
- the exchange of information;
Coordination of police operations in border areas;
- general training and development cooperation;
- the means of intervention and conduct of operations.
3. Without prejudice to service communications and the exchange of information through national central bodies, the services referred to in Articles 3 and 4 do not communicate directly, as part of their cooperation in combating crime, only important information for border regions.
4. Articles 126 to 130 of the Schengen Application Convention apply to the use of personal data.
5. This Agreement applies to Customs administrations without prejudice to the provisions of the Convention between Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, for the mutual assistance between the respective Customs administrations, and Additional Protocol, signed in Rome on 7 September 1967, as well as the provisions of the Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the establishment of offices with national controls juxtaposed In addition, this Agreement applies to Customs administrations in particular in accordance with the requirements of Articles 40, 41 and 50 of the Schengen Application Convention. The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the provisions of the Convention on Customs Cooperation, as denominated by the Member States of the European Union.
PART II. - Organization of cooperation
Article 3
1. The operational points of contact of the police and the Bundesgrenzschutz are:
(a) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
- Eupen's Gendarmerie District.
(b) in the Federal Republic of Germany:
- the Polizeipräsidium of Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate);
- Aachen Polizeipräsidium (North Rhine/Westphalia);
- the Bundesgrenzschutzamt of Kleve;
- the Bundesgrenzschutzamt of Köln;
- the Bundesgrenzschutzamt of Saarbrücken.
2. Operational contact points exchange information within the limits of their skills. They are the preferred interlocutors in all practical cases of direct cooperation to ensure the prevention and suppression of offences or the prevention of threats to public order and security as well as the suppression of future offences in the border regions.
3. Les Landeskriminalämter des Länder de Rhénanie-Palatinat ou de Rhénanie du Nord/Westphalie, le Grenzschutzpräsidium West, la Bundesgrenzschutzdirektion et le Service Général d'Appui Policier, à Bruxelles, peuvent entretien des contacts direct pour toute question police ayant trait aux régions frontière.
4. The Contracting Parties shall communicate to each other any modification, whether at the level of the name of the above-mentioned services or at the level of their respective competences.
Article 4
1. In the event of a need, for everything within the border police, the Contracting Parties, in an effort to strengthen cooperation, manage, on an ad hoc basis, in accordance with national legislation and on the basis of the existing conventions, a binational joint Belgian-German post located at the former Aachen-Süd border post in German territory. The necessary infrastructure is provided by both Contracting Parties.
2. Within the binational post, the officers of both Contracting Parties work together on the same site. In addition to the surrender of foreigners to the border, their mission is primarily to gather and transmit information to combat illegal immigration and related crime in the border region, in particular the falsification and counterfeiting of travel documents, as well as criminality related to the illegal entry and exit of the territory of the Contracting Parties and the organized channels involved in these illegal acts. These officers are also involved in the coordination of operations. Binational post officers communicate directly, in personal exchanges, relevant information and data and prepare a joint report on the situation. It does not belong to the binational position to carry out operational measures independently. Contracting Parties may, within their competence, entrust other missions to the binational position.
3. The officers of a Contracting Party who, in accordance with paragraph 2, assume their functions within the binational post in the territory of the other Party, have the status of liaison officers within the meaning of Article 47 of the Schengen Application Convention. They shall not have any executive power when they intervene, within the scope of the powers provided for in paragraph 2, in the territory of the other Contracting Party. The modalities will be settled by a protocol.
4. The competent bodies are, in some particular cases, empowered to establish regular police stations for a limited period of time. Paragraph 3, second sentence, applies by analogy to their activities in the neighbouring State.
Article 5
During specific cross-border transactions, liaison officers may be sent to the neighbouring country for a limited period of time. Their functions are limited to advice and information; They have no executive power.
Article 6
1. In the event of cross-border cooperation, information from national central bodies is provided in accordance with national law.
2. Cases exclusively within the jurisdiction of national central bodies are not subject to direct exchanges between police services.
Article 7
1. Transactions resulting in repercussions in the border regions of the other Contracting Party are directly coordinated by the services concerned, within their competence; operational contact points and, where appropriate, the joint binational post should be informed.
2. Police officers are especially invited to share their information on strategy and tactics. Common action plans are developed in accordance with national law to ensure methodical cooperation in police missions that have an impact on the border region of the other Contracting Party, such as, for example, research on persons or objects, in the event of traffic disruptions or other significant losses.
Article 8
1. In accordance with Article 39 of the Schengen Application Convention, police authorities referred to in Article 3 and related services in border areas may, beside national central bodies, for all their general competences and for the purpose of preventing and investigating punishable acts, transmit directly requests for assistance and treat them immediately in, inter alia, the following areas:
- identification of vehicle and driver holders;
- applications for driving permits;
- establishment of residences and residences;
- identification of subscribers of telecommunications networks, as long as it is public data;
- simple information, by the police, to the persons concerned, on an optional basis;
- identity checks;
- preparation of plans, coordination of research and emergency research (subject to SIS reporting);
- information on the origin of objects, including weapons and motor vehicles (requests for sales circuits);
- verification of the existence of traces;
- transmission of information from police records or information systems.
2. The police authorities required on the basis of paragraph 1 deal directly with requests. As long as the other requests, in accordance with national law, are to be processed exclusively by the judicial authorities, the Requesting Police Service is immediately informed of the need to confirm the request for assistance through a mutual legal assistance request. In the expectation of this confirmation, the request for assistance shall be forwarded for any purpose to the territorially competent judicial authority.
3. Direct police assistance is excluded as long as the application or execution involves coercive measures.
Article 9
1. Any cross-border observation is subject to the provisions of Article 40 of the Schengen Application Convention.
2. The authorities authorized to authorize such observation in the border areas are:
(a) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
- the national magistrate when the observation point is not located;
- the public prosecutors of Eupen, Verviers, Liège or Tongeren when the observation point is in their judicial district.
(b) in the Federal Republic of Germany:
- for Rhineland-Palatinate: the Leitende Oberstaatsanwalt de Trier;
- for North Rhine/Westphalia: the Leitende Oberstaatsanwalt of Aachen.
The authorization to make an observation applies to the entire national territory.
3. The request for mutual legal assistance is directly addressed to the authority authorized to authorize compliance or to transmit the requested authorization. A copy of the said request must not only be transmitted to the authorities referred to in Article 40 (1)er - in conjunction with Article 40, paragraph 5, of the Schengen Application Convention, but also:
(a) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
- at the operational point of contact in Eupen;
(b) and the Federal Republic of Germany:
- Landeskriminalamt of Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz, or
- Landeskriminalamt of North Rhine/Westphalia, Düsseldorf,
to the extent that these authorities are concerned.
4. In the cases provided for in Article 40, paragraph 2, of the Schengen Application Convention, the authorities referred to in paragraph 3 must be informed of the crossing of the border. The authorities of the Contracting Parties referred to in Article 40, paragraph 5, of the Schengen Application Convention shall be informed without delay.
5. The Contracting Parties shall communicate to each other any changes to the competences of the aforementioned services.
Article 10
1. Any cross-border prosecution shall be subject to the provisions of Article 41 of the Schengen Implementation Convention and to the relevant implementing texts and guidelines, while taking into account the national declarations provided for in Article 41, paragraph 9, of the Schengen Implementation Convention.
2. Competent operational contact points or joint binational post shall be immediately informed in the event of cross-border prosecution. The Contracting Parties shall communicate to each other any changes to the competences of the aforementioned services.
3. The competent authority may require the termination of a prosecution.
4. In the event of prosecution, the information of the national central bodies is made in accordance with national law.
Article 11
1. During a cross-border observation or prosecution, the police or customs officers of the neighbouring State are subject, with respect to traffic, to the same legal provisions as the police and customs officers of the Contracting Party in the territory of which the prosecution or observation is carried out. The Contracting Parties shall mutually reinforce the existing law.
2. The technical means necessary to facilitate cross-border observation or prosecution may be used as long as it is in accordance with the law of the Contracting Party in the territory of which the observation or prosecution is carried out. The Contracting Parties shall mutually reinforce the existing law.
3. The Contracting Parties undertake to collect, as soon as possible, the preconditions for the use of the air assets available to the police authorities in cross-border observations or prosecutions or in other cross-border interventions, jointly decided by the authorities referred to in Article 3. The Contracting Parties shall mutually reinforce the meeting of these conditions and shall endeavour to extend this possibility to Customs authorities.
Article 12
With regard to the repair of damage caused in the national territory of a Contracting Party by the agents of the other Contracting Party acting in the context of the missions provided for in Articles 8 and 9 of this Agreement, Article 43 of the Schengen Application Convention is applicable.
Article 13
If the network of communication channels imposes it, police and customs officers may circulate on the neighbouring state's national territory until they have the opportunity to turn around or to the next station allowing them to reach their own territory.
Article 14
1. The relevant services are working to improve cross-border communications. For this purpose, they exchange, at the first time, equipment for issuance and reception, in accordance with the legal provisions on telecommunications.
2. The competent authorities exchange lists with the names of police officers, police stations and their contact information. These lists are regularly updated.
Article 15
1. The relevant services are mutually reinforcing and enabling each individual to participate in general training and development projects. Officials meet regularly to exchange experiences. General training and development projects are also designed and implemented jointly. This must ensure in-depth treatment of cross-border problems.
2. Competent departments may engage in common cross-border exercises. Representatives of the neighbouring State may also be invited to attend special exercises and missions as observers.
3. The competent authorities can exchange their agents so that they can inform the police structures and skills specific to the neighbouring State.
Article 16
1. Police officers may, in the event of crossing the border for service reasons, wear their uniform as well as their weapon of service and other means of restraint authorized by the law of the State of origin. In this regard, the authorizations required in Germany pursuant to the War Arms Control Act are considered to be granted under section 27 of the Act.
2. The competent authorities exchange information on service weapons and other means of constraint authorized in their respective countries and on the right to use them.
3. The use of service weapons is permitted only in the event of self-defence.
Article 17
1. The relevant services exchange information on equipment and technical innovations.
2. The competent authorities shall inform the decisions taken regarding the acquisition of certain types of equipment. They seek compatibility where it is essential in case of common use.
3. Operations intervention and conduct equipment and supervisory personnel may be exchanged as long as it is useful to the police mission. The detached officers carry out liaison functions with the neighbouring State service without having any sovereignty.
4. In the event of loss or damage of loaned equipment in the operation and conduct of operations, the borrower compensates the owner.
PART III. - Terms of application and final provisions
Article 18
A joint working group, composed of representatives of Contracting Parties, shall, once a year - or if necessary - exchange experiences with respect to the implementation of the Agreement and the evolution of cross-border crime; the said group prepares an annual report to be submitted to the relevant services on both sides.
Article 19
The competent authorities may, on the basis and within the framework of this Agreement, take other arrangements for the administrative transfer of police cooperation, related organizational changes or the promotion of police cooperation (development, deepening, improvement).
Rule 20
Each Party may refuse, in whole or in part, its cooperation or subject it to certain conditions where it considers that the request or implementation of a assistance operation is likely to restrict its national law or to adversely affect the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests of the State.
Article 21
1. This Agreement comes into force two months after the date on which the Contracting Parties have been informed that the necessary national conditions for entry into force are met. The date of receipt of the last notification is decisive.
2. This Agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period. It may be denounced in writing by each of the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels. The denunciation takes effect six months after the date of receipt by the other Contracting Party of the corresponding notification.
Done in Brussels on 27 March 2000, in duplicate, in the French, Dutch and German language, the three texts being equally authentic.
For the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium:
A. DUQUENNE
For the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany:
E. HOFSTETER