Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development,
Considering the Constitution, in particular articles 52 to 55;
Vu la Act No. 2015-471 of 27 April 2015 authorizing the approval of the agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the island cooperation in police matters in Saint-Martin;
Vu le Decree No. 53-192 of 14 March 1953 amended on the ratification and publication of international commitments undertaken by France,
Decrete:
The agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the island cooperation in police matters in Saint-Martin (two annexes), signed in Paris on 7 October 2010, will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development are responsible, each with respect to him, for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
AGREEMENT
RELATING TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT OF THE ROYAL OF COUNTRIES-BAS RELATING TO INSULAR COOPERATION IN POLICY IN SAINT-MARTIN (SEMBLE SECOND ANNEXES), SIGNED TO PARIS ON 7 OCTOBER 2010
The Government of the French Republic
and
the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
referred to as "the Parties";
To:
To strengthen cooperation in recent years in the border area between police offices;
To promote cooperation between the two Parties by broadening the opportunities for cross-border interventions to maintain public order and internal security;
The following provisions were agreed:
Article 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement, the following means:
(a) "agents": persons belonging to the relevant services of the two Parties and assigned to territorial units located in the area defined in Article 3, or whose jurisdiction extends to that area, as well as persons belonging to the relevant services and acting in reinforcement of the territorial units;
(b) "judicial investigation": investigation into a crime likely to be prosecuted.
Article 2
Relevant services
The relevant services for the purposes of this Agreement shall be:
For the French Party:
- the National Police;
- National gendarmerie.
For the Dutch Party:
- judicial police officers within the meaning of Code of Criminal Procedure Dutch Antilles.
Article 3
Island Cooperation Zone
For the purposes of this Agreement, constitute the area of competence of Saint-Martin:
For the French Party: the overseas community of Saint-Martin, including territorial waters and airspace.
For the Dutch Party: the territory of Sint-Maarten, including territorial waters and air space.
Article 4
Objectives
1. The Parties shall, in accordance with their respective sovereignty and the role of the territorially competent administrative and judicial authorities, undertake insular cooperation of the police missions, the definition of new modalities of police cooperation and direct cooperation among the relevant services.
2. This cooperation is carried out within the framework of existing structures and competencies and in accordance with the general provisions applicable to international police cooperation.
Article 5
Assistance on request
1. Parties undertake to provide assistance to their services, in accordance with their national legislation and within the limits of their competence, in order to prevent and investigate punishable acts, provided that national law does not reserve the request to the judicial authorities and that demand and enforcement do not involve the application of coercive measures by the requested Party. Where the required services are not competent to carry out an application, they shall forward the application to the competent authorities and inform the requesting authorities.
2. Without prejudice to the general competence of the national central authorities, the services referred to in Article 2 may in particular, within the framework of their respective competences, transmit requests for assistance concerning the safeguarding of public order, the fight against irregular immigration and all forms of crime, including the following:
- identification of holders, drivers and passengers of land-based motor vehicles;
- identification of vehicles and verification of their status;
- identification of holders, drivers and passengers of ships;
- requests for driving permits;
- requests for navigation permits or licences;
- research of current addresses and residences;
- identification of telephone and communication lines;
- establishing the identity of persons and their administrative situation;
- police information from computerized files or other documents held by these services;
- preparation of plans, harmonization of research measures and emergency research;
- verification of the presence of material traces;
- verification of the sincerity and validity of identity and travel documents.
3. The services so requested on the basis of paragraph 1 of this article shall respond directly to requests provided that national law does not reserve the treatment to the judicial authorities. In this case, the request for assistance is forwarded directly and without delay to the territorially competent judicial authority, which treats it, in accordance with the law in force, as a request for mutual legal assistance and addresses the response through the services initially seized.
Article 6
spontaneous assistance
The competent departments of the Parties may, in accordance with their national legislation and without being invited to do so, communicate to the other Party information that may help the other Party to prevent concrete threats to public safety and order or to combat punishable acts. The transmission of information shall be in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 5.
Article 7
Detachment of liaison officers
1. Parties may enter into special arrangements for the detachment of liaison officers to the services of the other Party for a specified or indefinite period.
2. The purpose of the liaison officer detachment is to promote and accelerate cooperation among Parties, including by providing assistance:
(a) In the form of exchange of information for the purpose of prevention and repression of any form of crime;
(b) In the execution of a request for cooperation between the competent authorities.
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 as part of the instructions given to them by the Party of origin and by the Party to which they are detached. They regularly report to the chief of the service to which they are seconded.
Article 8
Cooperation between operational units
1. The relevant services of the Parties:
- communicate the flow charts and coordinates of operational units;
- develop a simplified code to designate locations of operational engagement.
2. The relevant agencies undertake direct cross-border cooperation in police matters. In this context, the units of these services have, in particular, missions to:
- coordinate their joint actions, in order to safeguard public order and security:
- combating illicit trafficking, irregular immigration and crime;
- collecting and exchanging police information.
Article 9
Periodic review of cooperation
The relevant services of both Parties shall meet according to operational requirements. On this occasion:
- they take stock of the cooperation of their units;
- exchange their statistical data on the various forms of crime within their competence;
- they develop and update common intervention schemes for situations requiring coordination of their units;
- they jointly develop research plans;
- they organize patrols in which the unit of a Party may receive assistance from one or more officers of the competent services of the other Party;
- they program joint exercises;
- they agree on the needs of predictable cooperation according to the planned demonstrations or the evolution of various forms of crime;
- they develop a joint programme of work;
- they're implementing coordinated strategies.
A report is prepared at the end of each meeting.
Article 10
Public assistance
The competent services of the two Parties shall provide mutual assistance, within their national law, in mass events or major events, in the event of disasters as well as serious accidents or events that may affect the lives or physical integrity of persons:
(a) By informing each other, as soon as possible, of events or situations that may have cross-border repercussions, as well as the findings related to them;
(b) By taking and coordinating, in their territory, the police measures that are required in events and situations with cross-border impacts;
(c) By providing as much assistance as possible in the form of intervention detachment, specialists and advisers, as well as the provision of materials, at the request of the Party in the territory of which the event or situation occurs.
Article 11
Instruction, training, technical assistance
On request, a Party may have some of its special infrastructure or means available to the other Party for training or operational support. Similarly, joint intervention or specific training may be conducted to improve the operational capacity of both Parties. For the purposes of this article, the terms and conditions of these available and exchanges will be regulated by technical arrangements.
Article 12
1. Agents of one of the Parties who, as part of a judicial investigation, observe a person alleged to have participated in a fact punishable by a sentence of imprisonment of at least one year, according to the law of the requested Party, or where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person observed may participate, for the purposes of a judicial investigation, in the identification or location of such a person, are authorized to continue the mutual assistance application
Upon request, the observation shall be entrusted to the agents of the Party in whose territory it is carried out.
2. When, for particularly urgent reasons, the Party's prior authorization cannot be requested, observers are allowed to continue beyond the border the observation they make, under the following conditions:
(a) The facts on which the investigation is conducted fall within one of the categories of offences listed in Appendix 1 to this Agreement;
(b) The border crossing will be communicated immediately:
- for the French Party: at the operational centre of the Saint-Martin gendarmerie, which advises the judicial authority referred to in 3 of this article;
- for the Dutch Party: at the central station of the Sint-Maarten police force, Saint-Eustache and Saba, which advises the judicial authority referred to in 3 of this article;
(c) An application for mutual legal assistance submitted in accordance with 1 of this article and setting out the grounds for crossing the border without prior authorization will be forwarded without delay to the authorities referred to in 3 of this article.
The observation shall be stopped as soon as the Party in whose territory the request is made, following the communication received pursuant to b and c of 2 of this article or if the authorization is not obtained within six hours after the crossing of the border by the observer agents.
3. The authorization is valid for the entire territory of the requested Party and may be subject to conditions.
The request for mutual legal assistance must be addressed to the designated authority to grant or transmit the requested authorization:
- for the French Party: the prosecutor of the territorially competent Republic. The application will be forwarded simultaneously to the headquarters of the Interregional Judicial Police Directorate (DIPJ) Antilles-Guyane (which is the sub-office of the National Central Office / BCN France of Interpol) as well as the performance report of the observation;
- for the Dutch Party: the Attorney General of the Netherlands Antilles.
4. Observers are:
- for the French Party: officers and judicial police officers of the national police and the national gendarmerie;
- for the Dutch Party: judicial police officers within the meaning of Code of Criminal Procedure of the Netherlands Antilles, provided that they have been designated as observers.
5. Observer agents do not have the right of inquiry.
6. Observation may only be exercised under the following general conditions:
(a) Observers shall comply with the provisions of this article and the law of the Party in the territory of which they operate; they must comply with the injunctions of the competent local authorities;
(b) Observer agents shall be subject, in the matter of traffic, to the same legal provisions as the officers of the Party in the territory of which observation is exercised;
(c) Subject to the circumstances set out in 2 of this Article, officers shall be provided during the observation of a document certifying that the authorization has been granted;
(d) Observer agents must be able to justify at any time their official quality;
(e) Observer agents may carry their weapons of service during observation, the use being limited to self-defence;
(f) Observer agents are prohibited from entering homes and places that are not accessible to the public and may not enter work, business or business premises accessible to the public only during hours of operation;
(g) Any observation must be reported to the services of the Party in the territory of which it intervened and the personal appearance of observers may be required;
(h) The services of the Party to which the Observer Agents depend shall provide, when requested by the services of the Party in the territory of which the observation took place, their assistance to the police investigation or judicial proceedings following the operation to which they participated;
(i) The technical means necessary to facilitate compliance are used in accordance with the legislation of the Party in the territory of which compliance is continued; means used for optical and acoustic monitoring must be mentioned in the request for mutual legal assistance.
Article 13
1. Agents of one of the Parties are authorized to continue the prosecution without prior authorization in the territory of the other Party where the competent authorities were unable to be notified beforehand of the entry into their territory, due to the particular urgency, by one of the means of communication approved by the two Parties or that such authorities were unable to visit the country in time to resume the prosecution in their country; this authorization is granted for the prosecution of persons in one of the following situations:
(a) In flagrante delicto of commission of an offence or act falling within one of the categories of offences listed in Schedule 2;
(b) Evaded when it was in a state of provisional arrest, or is exempt from the execution of a sentence or measure of deprivation of liberty;
(c) Having failed to comply with an injunction to stop from agents of the services referred to in Article 2 of this Agreement and having their insignia of office, or having committed a forceful passage of a police control device.
2. At the latest at the time of the border crossing, the prosecuting officers appeal to the competent services of the Party in whose territory the prosecution takes place. The prosecution must be arrested as soon as the Party on whose territory the prosecution is to take place the request. At the request of the prosecuting officers, the competent local authorities shall apprehend the person charged with establishing his or her identity or arrest.
3. Procuring agents do not have the right of inquiry.
4. The prosecution must be communicated at the latest at the time of crossing the border:
- for the French Party: at the operational centre of the gendarmerie of Saint-Martin, which advises the prosecutor of the territorially competent Republic;
- for the Dutch Party: at the central station of the Sint-Maarten police force, Saint-Eustache and Saba, which advises the judicial authority referred to in 3 of Article 12.
5. The pursuit can be exercised without limitation in space and in time.
6. The following officers are:
- for the French Party: officers, judicial police officers and deputy judicial police officers of the national police and the national gendarmerie;
- for the Dutch Party: judicial police officers within the meaning of Code of Criminal Procedure Dutch Antilles.
7. The prosecution may only be exercised under the following general conditions:
(a) Persistent agents are easily identifiable either by wearing a uniform or by armband or by accessories placed on the vehicle; the use of civil holding combined with the use of banalized vehicles without the aforementioned identification is prohibited;
(b) At the end of each prosecution, the prosecuting officers immediately appear before the competent local services of the Party in whose territory they operated and report on their mission; at the request of these services, they are required to remain available until the circumstances of their action have been sufficiently clarified; this condition applies even when the prosecution has not led to the arrest of the person prosecuted;
(c) In cross-border proceedings governed by this Agreement, the use of aerial and nautical means shall be permitted in accordance with the law of each Party; a technical arrangement specifies the modalities.
(d) Paragraph 6 of section 12, with the exception of paragraph (c), applies, by analogy, to the exercise of the right of prosecution.
8. A person who, at the conclusion of the prosecution, has been arrested by the competent local authorities may, irrespective of his nationality, be detained for interrogation, within the limits of the Party's law in the territory of which the arrest took place. If the person does not have the nationality of the Party in the territory of which he or she was arrested, he or she will be released no later than six hours after his or her arrest, the hours between midnight and 9 hours uncounted, unless the locally competent services have received, prior to the discharge of that period, a notice announcing a request for provisional arrest for extradition in any form.
Article 14
1. Relevant officers within the meaning of Article 2 of this Agreement may participate in joint patrols in the Island Cooperation Zone defined in Article 3.
2. The task of joint patrols is to conduct direct cross-border cooperation aimed at preventing threats to public order, combating illicit trafficking, irregular immigration and all forms of crime, as well as ensuring border surveillance.
3. The Party ' s officers in the territory of which the joint patrol is conducted may conduct inspections and arrests.
4. The officers of the other Party shall serve as observation, support, advice, assistance, information and advice. They are not competent for the autonomous execution of police measures. When they participate in a joint patrol, being placed under the control of the Party's officers in the territory of which this patrol is conducted, the officers of the other Party are also entitled to establish the identity of persons and, to the extent that they attempt to avoid control, to apprehend them in accordance with the national law of the Party in the territory of which the patrol is conducted. It is the responsibility of the Party ' s agents in the territory of which the patrol takes place to take further coercive measures. However, in cases where agents of the Party in the territory of which the patrol is conducted, they consider that the success of the operation would be compromised or significantly more difficult to obtain without the intervention of officers of the other Party, they may authorize them to take the necessary measures under their control.
5. The rights and obligations of the officers and the conditions of execution of the missions shall be subject to the laws and regulations of the Party in which these missions are carried out.
Article 15
Agents of a Party operating in the territory of the other Party, pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, may exercise public power powers, under the control and operational conduct of the competent service of the Party in the territory of which the mission is conducted, if it is necessary to take urgent measures to repel threats to public safety and order or to combat offences.
Article 16
Legal status of officers
1. The officers performing their functions in the territory of the other Party, pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, shall fall within their original hierarchy but shall respect the rules of procedure of the unit within which they are detached.
2. Each Party shall grant the officers of the other Party, detached from its units or on mission to its territory, the same protection and assistance as to its own agents.
3. The criminal provisions in force in each Party for the protection of agents in the performance of their duties are also applicable to offences committed against agents of the other Party, detached from their units.
4. The officers, acting in the territory of the other Party, pursuant to Articles 7, 11 and 13 of this Agreement, shall be subject to the civil and criminal liability regimes of the Party in the territory of which they are located.
5. Agents performing their duties in the territory of the other Party, pursuant to Articles 7, 11 and 13 of this Agreement, may travel to their detachment units and perform their service by wearing their national uniform or an apparent distinguishing sign and their regulatory weapon only to ensure, where appropriate, their self-defence.
Article 17
Protection of personal data
1. In the areas of cooperation covered by this Agreement, personal data are collected, processed, communicated and accessible in accordance with national and international data protection provisions. In particular, the data must be:
(a) Treaties loyally and lawfully;
(b) Collected or communicated for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes, in particular in the areas referred to in Article 5, 2 of this Agreement, and not to be dealt with subsequently in a manner inconsistent with these purposes;
(c) Dequates, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they are collected, processed or communicated;
(d) Exacts and updates or corrected;
(e) Held in a form that allows the identification of the persons concerned for a period not exceeding that necessary for the realization of the purposes for which they are collected or processed;
(f) Accessible to any person justifying his or her identity and for information about it. The request for the communication of personal data must be submitted to the competent authority, in accordance with the legislation of the Party that processed the personal data relating to the applicant.
2. Any information provided under this Agreement shall be confidential in accordance with the rules applicable in each Party. It is covered by the obligation of professional secrecy and enjoys the protection granted to similar information by the relevant laws in the territory of the Party that has received it.
3. The consultation of personal data processed automatically by a Party shall be restricted only to agents of the Party. Parties shall take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access or processing.
4. The exchange of personal data is carried out without prejudice to the preservation of the essential interests of each Party. The refusal of communication must be motivated.
Article 18
Financial provisions
The provisions of this Agreement shall be consistent with the budgetary limits of each Party.
Article 19
Exemptions from foreign formalities
Agents performing their duties in the territory of the other Party shall not be subject to the provisions limiting immigration, the registration of aliens and the procedures related to the transport of equipment and weapons necessary for the performance of their duties.
Rule 20
Settlement of disputes
1. Disputes related to the application or interpretation of this Agreement shall be the subject of consultations between the authorities of the two Parties.
2. Each Party may require the expert meeting of the Parties to resolve issues related to the application of this Agreement and to submit proposals for the development of cooperation.
Article 21
Entry into force, duration and denunciation
1. Each Party shall notify the other of the fulfilment of the constitutional procedures required for the entry into force of this Agreement, which shall take effect on the first day of the second month following the day on which the second notification is received.
2. With respect to the Dutch Party, this Agreement applies only to the territory of the island of Sint-Maarten belonging to the Netherlands Antilles.
3. This Agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period. Each Party may denounce it at any time with a six-month notice by diplomatic means. Such denunciation shall not jeopardize the rights and obligations of the Parties arising from the cooperation under this Agreement.
In faith, the representatives of both Governments, duly authorized to do so, have signed this Agreement.
Done in Paris on 7 October 2010, in two original copies in each of the French and Dutch languages, both texts being equally authentic.
For the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Hugo SIBLESZ
Ambassador of the Netherlands
For the Government of the French Republic: Pierre Sellal
Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
Annex 1
Categories of offences authorizing the realization of urgent cross-border observation
Voluntary homicide, serious injuries and injuries.
Serious sexual offence.
Voluntary offence.
Counterfeit and falsification of means of payment.
Aggravated flight and recel.
Racket and extortion of funds.
Removal, sequestration and hostage taking.
Trafficking in human beings.
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Destruction by explosives.
Illicit trafficking in toxic, harmful, nuclear and radioactive materials.
Terrorism.
Sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
Corruption.
Fraude.
Whitening the crime product.
Cybercrime.
Crimes against the environment, including illicit trafficking in endangered animal species and illicit trafficking in endangered species and plant species.
Helps in the irregular entrance and stay.
Illicit trafficking in human organs and tissues.
Racism and xenophobia.
Illicit trafficking in cultural property, including antiques and works of art.
Scam.
Counterfeiting and hacking of products.
Falsification of administrative documents and traffic of false.
Illicit trafficking in hormones and other growth factors.
Disconnection of means of transport.
Sabotage.
Participation in a criminal organization.
The facts mean an act consummated, a simple attempt or a criminal preparatory act. They are always qualified according to the law of the requested Party.
Annex 2
Categories of offences authorizing cross-border prosecution
Voluntary homicide, serious injuries and injuries.
Serious sexual offence.
Voluntary offence.
Counterfeit and falsification of means of payment.
Aggravated flight and recel.
Racket and extortion of funds.
Removal, sequestration and hostage taking.
Trafficking in human beings.
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Destruction by explosives.
Illicit trafficking in toxic, harmful, nuclear and radioactive materials.
Discharge of leak following an accident that resulted in death or serious injuries.
Terrorism.
Sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
Corruption.
Fraude.
Whitening the crime product.
Cybercrime.
Crimes against the environment, including illicit trafficking in animal species and illicit trafficking in endangered species and plant species.
Helps in the irregular entrance and stay.
Illicit trafficking in human organs and tissues.
Racism and xenophobia.
Illicit trafficking in cultural property, including antiques and works of art.
Scam.
Counterfeiting and hacking of products.
Falsification of administrative documents and traffic of false.
Illicit trafficking in hormones and other growth factors.
Disconnection of means of transport.
Sabotage.
Participation in a criminal organization.
The facts mean an act consummated, a simple attempt or a criminal preparatory act. They are always qualified according to the law of the requested Party.
Annex 1
Categories of offences authorizing the realization of urgent cross-border observation
Voluntary homicide, serious injuries and injuries.
Serious sexual offence.
Voluntary offence.
Counterfeit and falsification of means of payment.
Aggravated flight and recel.
Racket and extortion of funds.
Removal, sequestration and hostage taking.
Trafficking in human beings.
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Destruction by explosives.
Illicit trafficking in toxic, harmful, nuclear and radioactive materials.
Terrorism.
Sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
Corruption.
Fraude.
Whitening the crime product.
Cybercrime.
Crimes against the environment, including illicit trafficking in endangered animal species and illicit trafficking in endangered species and plant species.
Helps in the irregular entrance and stay.
Illicit trafficking in human organs and tissues.
Racism and xenophobia.
Illicit trafficking in cultural property, including antiques and works of art.
Scam.
Counterfeiting and hacking of products.
Falsification of administrative documents and traffic of false.
Illicit trafficking in hormones and other growth factors.
Disconnection of means of transport.
Sabotage.
Participation in a criminal organization.
The facts mean an act consummated, a simple attempt or a criminal preparatory act. They are always qualified according to the law of the requested Party.
Annex 2
Categories of offences authorizing cross-border prosecution
Voluntary homicide, serious injuries and injuries.
Serious sexual offence.
Voluntary offence.
Counterfeit and falsification of means of payment.
Aggravated flight and recel.
Racket and extortion of funds.
Removal, sequestration and hostage taking.
Trafficking in human beings.
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Destruction by explosives.
Illicit trafficking in toxic, harmful, nuclear and radioactive materials.
Discharge of leak following an accident that resulted in death or serious injuries.
Terrorism.
Sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
Corruption.
Fraude.
Whitening the crime product.
Cybercrime.
Crimes against the environment, including illicit trafficking in animal species and illicit trafficking in endangered species and plant species.
Helps in the irregular entrance and stay.
Illicit trafficking in human organs and tissues.
Racism and xenophobia.
Illicit trafficking in cultural property, including antiques and works of art.
Scam.
Counterfeiting and hacking of products.
Falsification of administrative documents and traffic of false.
Illicit trafficking in hormones and other growth factors.
Disconnection of means of transport.
Sabotage.
Participation in a criminal organization.
The facts mean an act consummated, a simple attempt or a criminal preparatory act. They are always qualified according to the law of the requested Party.
Done on 13 October 2015.
François Hollande
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
Manuel Valls
Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development,
Laurent Fabius
