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Law Approving The Agreement Between The Government Of The Kingdom Of Belgium And The Government Of Romania On Police Cooperation, And Annex, Signed In Bucharest On 14 April 1999 (1) (2)

Original Language Title: Loi portant assentiment à la Convention entre le Gouvernement du Royaume de Belgique et le Gouvernement de Roumanie relative à la coopération policière, et à l'Annexe, signées à Bucarest le 14 avril 1999 (1) (2)

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2 AOUT 2002. - An Act to approve the Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of Romania concerning police cooperation and the Annex signed in Bucharest on April 14, 1999 (1) (2)



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 Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of Romania on police cooperation, and the Annex, signed in Bucharest on 14 April 1999, will come out their 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 in Punat on 2 August 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 22 February 2002, No. 2-1059/1.
Report made on behalf of the Commission:
2-1059/2
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, session of 25/04/2002.
Vote, meeting of 25/04/2002.
(1) Session 2001-2002.
Room.
Documents
Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 50-1767/1.
Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 50-1767/2.
Annales parlementaire
Discussion, session of 23/05/2002.
Vote, session of 23/05/2002.
(2) This Convention entered into force on 1er November 2002.

CONVENTION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BELGIUM ROYAUME AND THE GOVERNMENT OF REFERENCE TO POLICY COOPERATION
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and
The Government of Romania
the Contracting Parties,
Based on the desire to promote relations of friendship and cooperation between the two Contracting Parties, and in particular on the common desire to strengthen police cooperation among them,
Based on the desire to strengthen this police cooperation within the framework of the international commitments undertaken by the two Contracting Parties to respect fundamental rights and freedoms, including the European Convention on Human Rights 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,
Recognizing that international organized crime poses a serious threat to the socio-economic development of the Contracting Parties, 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 Contracting Parties and the Parliaments of their 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 illegal 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 Convention.
Article 1er
Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention, the following means:
Competent authorities of Contracting Parties,
the authorities designated by each Contracting Party for the implementation of this Convention and are included in the Annex to this Convention.
International trafficking in human beings, any following intentional behaviour:
(a) Facilitate entry into the territory of the Contracting Party to this Convention, transit, stay or exit in that territory if it is used, 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 no other true and acceptable choices;
(b) to 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 to this Convention under the conditions specified in (a).
Sexual exploitation of children,
the offences 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.
Technical assistance,
logistical support to police and migration services.
Nuclear and radioactive material crime,
offences as listed in Article 7, § 1er Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, signed at Vienna and New York on 3 March 1980.
Money laundering,
offences as listed in Article 6, paragraphs 1er to 3, the Council of Europe Convention relating to the laundering, detection, seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime, signed in Strasbourg on 8 November 1990.
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 deprivation of liberty for a maximum of four years or a more serious penalty, such offences constitute an end in itself or a means to obtain property benefits, and, where applicable,
Personal data,
any information concerning an identified or identifiable natural person (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.
Processing of personal data,
any operation or set of operations carried out or not using automated processes, and applied to personal data, such as collection, registration, organization, conservation, adaptation or modification, extraction, consultation, use, transmission, diffusion or any other form of provision, reconciliation or interconnection, as well as locking, deletion.
Stupid,
any substance, whether natural or synthetic, contained in Table I or Table II of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in New York on 30 March 1961 and the Protocol of 25 March 1972 amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961.
Psychotropic substance,
any substance, whether natural or synthetic, or any natural product of Table I, II, III or IV of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 21 February 1971.
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances,
the cultivation, manufacture or trafficking of narcotic drugs 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.
Urgent request,
an application is deemed to be a urgent in cases where the passage through formal administrative procedure to the central authorities may interfere or jeopardize preventive or research action.
Article 2
Areas of cooperation
1. Each Contracting Party undertakes to grant to the other Party, under the rules and conditions set out in this Convention, the broadest cooperation with regard to police cooperation.
2. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate, as a matter of priority, in the prevention, punishment and prosecution of serious crimes of organized crime:
(a) offences against the life, physical integrity and health of persons;
(b) Offences related to illegal production and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;
(c) Undercover immigration;
(d) procuring, trafficking in human beings, sexual exploitation of children;
(e) extortion of funds;
(f) theft, trafficking and illegal trade of arms, ammunition, explosives, radioactive substances, nuclear materials and other dangerous substances;
(g) falsifications (fabrication, counterfeiting, processing and distribution) of means of payment, cheques and securities;
(h) Commercial and financial trade crime;
(i) offences against property, including theft, trafficking in works of art and historical objects, including, where applicable, those listed in the national heritage;
(j) theft, illegal trade and traffic of motor vehicles and the falsification and use of falsified vehicle documents;
(k) the flight with break;
(l) money laundering.
3. The priority given to the offences provided for in the preceding paragraph may be amended, in accordance with national law, by arrangements between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.
Article 3
Collaboration between Contracting Parties will also include:
1) searching for missing persons and helping to identify unidentified bodies;
(2) the search on the territory of the State of a Contracting Party of stolen, disappeared, diverted or misplaced objects in the territory of the other State.
Article 4
Means of cooperation
The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in the areas specified in Articles 2 and 3 above by:
1) the exchange of information on areas within the jurisdiction of the police and immigration authorities;
(2) exchange of equipment;
3) technical and scientific assistance, expertise and supplies of specialized technical equipment;
4) an exchange of experiences;
(5) Cooperation in the field of vocational training;
(6) Assistance in the preparation of requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, including, where appropriate, deferred seizure.
Article 5
The exchange of information
The Contracting Parties will provide assistance and close and ongoing cooperation. They will, inter alia, 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 services, in accordance with national law and within the limits of their competence, provide 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 invited to do so, 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 of this Convention or for the prevention of threats to public order and security of their States.
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 applicable international provisions.
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 cooperation, its direct request and to motivate its urgency.
2. The designation by the Contracting Parties of the central bodies responsible for international cooperation and the modalities of mutual assistance shall be resolved by arrangements between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.
Article 9
The requesting competent authority of a Contracting Party shall guarantee the degree of confidentiality that the required competent authority of the other Contracting Party has assigned to the information. Security levels are those used by INTERPOL.
Article 10
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may detach, for a specified or indeterminate period, liaison officers of 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 the missions of the border and migration authorities;
(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 police cooperation body of the Contracting Party to which they are detached.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may agree that the liaison officers of a Contracting Party seconded to a third State shall also represent the interests of the other Contracting Party.
Article 11
Protection of personal data
1. Pursuant to this Convention, 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 Convention, the 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 personal data.
3. With regard to the processing of personal data transmitted under this Convention, the following provisions apply:
(a) data may only be used by the recipient Contracting Party for the purposes for which this Convention provides for the transmission of such data;
(b) data may be used only by judicial authorities, services and bodies that perform a task or perform a function for the purposes referred to in this Convention 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 latter shall be required to correct or destroy the data;
(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. Contracting Parties shall communicate the list of authorities or services 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 Contracting Party that is not at the origin of the data may only communicate this data after prior agreement of the Contracting Party that is at the origin 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 and services; the communication of data to other bodies that pursue the same objectives as those services and authorities and that act in that same framework may only be carried out after prior authorization from the Contracting Party providing them;
(b) upon request, the recipient Contracting Party shall inform the Contracting Party which shall transmit the data, its receipt, its use 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 the territory of its State independent control of the processing of personal data carried out on the basis of this Convention and to verify whether such treatments are not infringinging on the rights of the person concerned. These supervisory authorities are also competent to analyse the difficulties in the application or interpretation of this Convention relating to the processing of personal data. Such supervisory authorities may agree to cooperate in the missions recognized by this Convention.
Article 12
If personal data are transmitted through a liaison officer referred to in Article 10, the provisions of this Convention are also applicable.
Article 13
Refusal of assistance
Each Contracting Party shall refuse assistance in the event of political or military offences or in cases where such assistance is contrary to the legal provisions in force in the territory of its State.
Each of the Contracting Parties may refuse assistance or subject it to conditions in respect of offences related to political or military offences or where the fulfilment of assistance may threaten the sovereignty, security, public order or other essential interests of the State.
Article 14
Other forms of cooperation
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 Convention.
3. The modalities of mutual assistance shall be settled by arrangements between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.
Article 15
Concertation
1. Competent authorities of Contracting Parties may establish permanent or occasional working groups to address common problems with respect to law enforcement and prevention in the areas of crime referred to in Article 2 and the areas of cooperation referred to in Article 3 and to develop, where appropriate, proposals to improve, if necessary, the practical and technical aspects of cooperation between Contracting Parties.
2. The costs associated with the implementation of cooperation shall be borne by each Contracting Party, unless otherwise provided by the representatives of the Contracting Parties, duly authorized.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall establish an evaluation group that shall report to them every three years.
Article 16
Settlement of disputes
Any dispute arising from the interpretation or application of this Convention shall be resolved by a joint consultative commission established for that purpose.
The Commission will be composed of representatives of the two Contracting Parties. It shall meet periodically at the request of either State or whenever necessary in order to facilitate the resolution of problems arising from the interpretation or application of this Convention.
Article 17
Final provisions
The provisions of this Convention shall apply only to the extent that they are consistent with national law.
The monitoring of the implementation of this Convention shall be carried out in accordance with the national law of the State of each Contracting Party.
Article 18
The Contracting Parties shall, in writing, notify each other of the fulfilment of the constitutional formalities required for the entry into force of this Convention.
The Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date of receipt of the last notification.
This Convention shall be concluded for an unlimited period of time. Any Contracting Party may denounce it by means of a written notification addressed to the other Contracting Party. The denunciation will take effect 6 months after the date of its consignment.
Article 19
The Contracting Parties may jointly amend this Convention. The amendment initiative may belong to any Contracting Party.
The amendments will come into force following the procedure provided for in Article 18.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized to do so, have affixed their signatures to the bottom of this Convention.
Done in Bucharest on 14 April 1999, in two original copies, in each of the Romanian, French and Dutch languages, the three texts being equally authentic.
For the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium:
The Minister of the Interior,
L. VAN DEN BOSSCHE
Minister of Justice,
T. VAN PARYS
For the Government of Romania:
The Minister of the Interior,
C. DUDU IONESCU

Annex to the Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of Romania on police cooperation
For the Kingdom of Belgium, the competent authorities, each with respect to it, are:
- Minister of the Interior;
- Minister of Justice;
- Minister of Foreign Affairs.
For Romania, the competent authority is:
- The Ministry of the Interior.