Requests for information to Single Points of Contact
1. Member States shall ensure that requests for information submitted by their Single Point of Contact and, where their national law so provides, the designated law enforcement authorities to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State comply with the requirements set out in paragraphs 2 to 6.
Member States shall submit to the Commission a list of their designated law enforcement authorities. Member States shall inform the Commission where there are changes to that list. The Commission shall publish online a compilation of those lists and keep it up to date.
Member States shall ensure that where their designated law enforcement authorities submit a request for information to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State, at the same time, they send a copy of that request to their Single Point of Contact.
2. Member States may permit their designated law enforcement authorities not to send, on a case-by-case basis, a copy of a request for information to their Single Point of Contact at the same time as submitting it to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State in accordance with paragraph 1 where it would jeopardise one or more of the following:
(a)
an ongoing highly sensitive investigation for which the processing of information requires an appropriate level of confidentiality;
(b)
terrorism cases not involving emergency or crisis management situations;
(c)
the safety of an individual.
3. Member States shall ensure that requests for information are submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State only where there are objective reasons to believe that:
(a)
the requested information is necessary for and proportionate to achieving the purpose referred to in Article 1(1), first subparagraph; and
(b)
the requested information is available to that other Member State.
4. Member States shall ensure that any request for information submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State specifies whether it is urgent and, if so, gives reasons for the urgency. Such requests for information shall be considered urgent where, having regard to all relevant facts and circumstances of the case at hand, there are objective reasons to believe that the requested information is one or more of the following:
(a)
essential for the prevention of an immediate and serious threat to the public security of a Member State;
(b)
necessary in order to prevent an imminent threat to life or the physical integrity of a person;
(c)
necessary to adopt a decision that might involve the maintenance of restrictive measures amounting to a deprivation of liberty;
(d)
at imminent risk of losing relevance if not provided urgently and is considered important for the prevention, detection or investigation of criminal offences.
5. Member States shall ensure that requests for information submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State contain all necessary details to allow for their adequate and rapid processing in accordance with this Directive, including at least the following:
(a)
a specification of the requested information that is as detailed as reasonably possible under the given circumstances;
(b)
a description of the purpose for which the information is requested, including a description of the facts and indication of the underlying offence;
(c)
the objective reasons for which it is believed that the requested information is available to the requested Member State;
(d)
an explanation of the connection between the purpose for which the information is requested and any natural or legal person or entity to which the information relates, where applicable;
(e)
the reasons for which the request is considered urgent, where applicable, in accordance with paragraph 4;
(f)
restrictions on the use of the information contained in the request for purposes other than those for which it has been submitted.
6. Member States shall ensure that requests for information are submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State in one of the languages included in the list established by that other Member State in accordance with Article 11.
Provision of information pursuant to requests to Single Points of Contact
1. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact provides the information requested in accordance with Article 4 as soon as possible and in any event within the following time limits, as applicable:
(a)
eight hours in the case of urgent requests relating to directly accessible information;
(b)
three calendar days in the case of urgent requests relating to indirectly accessible information;
(c)
seven calendar days in the case of all other requests.
The time limits set out in the first subparagraph shall commence as soon as the request for information is received.
2. Where, under its national law in accordance with Article 9, a Member State can provide the requested information only after having obtained a judicial authorisation, that Member State may deviate from the time limits set out in paragraph 1 of this Article in so far as necessary for the purpose of obtaining such an authorisation. In such cases, Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact does both of the following:
(a)
immediately inform the Single Point of Contact or, where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State of the expected delay, specifying the length of the expected delay and the reasons therefor;
(b)
subsequently keep the Single Point of Contact, or where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State updated and provide the requested information as soon as possible after obtaining the judicial authorisation.
3. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact provides the information requested in accordance with Article 4 to the Single Point of Contact or, where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State in the language in which that request for information was submitted in accordance with Article 4(6).
Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact sends a copy of the requested information to the Single Point of Contact of the requesting Member State at the same time as providing the requested information to the designated law enforcement authority of that Member State.
Member States may permit their Single Point of Contact not to send, at the same time as providing information to the designated law enforcement authorities of another Member State in accordance with this Article, a copy of that information to the Single Point of Contact of that other Member State where it would jeopardise one or more of the following:
(a)
an ongoing highly sensitive investigation for which the processing of information requires an appropriate level of confidentiality;
(b)
terrorism cases not involving emergency or crisis management situations;
(c)
the safety of an individual.
Refusals of requests for information
1. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact only refuses to provide the information requested in accordance with Article 4 in so far as any of the following reasons applies:
(a)
the requested information is not available to the Single Point of Contact and the competent law enforcement authorities of the requested Member State;
(b)
the request for information does not meet the requirements set out in Article 4;
(c)
the judicial authorisation required under the national law of the requested Member State in accordance with Article 9 was refused;
(d)
the requested information constitutes personal data other than those falling within the categories of personal data referred to in Article 10, point (b);
(e)
the requested information has been found to be inaccurate, incomplete or no longer up to date and cannot be provided in accordance with Article 7(2) of Directive (EU) 2016/680;
(f)
there are objective reasons to believe that the provision of the requested information would:
(i)
be contrary to or would harm the essential interests of the national security of the requested Member State;
(ii)
jeopardise the success of an ongoing investigation of a criminal offence or the safety of an individual;
(iii)
unduly harm the protected important interests of a legal person;
(g)
the request pertains to:
(i)
a criminal offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of one year or less under the law of the requested Member State; or
(ii)
a matter that is not a criminal offence under the law of the requested Member State;
(h)
the requested information was initially obtained from another Member State or a third country and that Member State or third country has not consented to the provision of the information.
Member States shall exercise due diligence in assessing whether the request for information submitted to their Single Point of Contact is in accordance with the requirements set out in Article 4, in particular as to whether there is a manifest breach of fundamental rights.
Any refusal of a request for information shall affect only the part of the requested information to which the reasons set out in the first subparagraph relate and shall, where applicable, not affect the obligation to provide the other parts of the information in accordance with this Directive.
2. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact informs the Single Point of Contact or, where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State of the refusal of the request for information, specifying the reasons therefor, within the time limits set out in Article 5(1).
3. Where relevant, Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact immediately requests, from the Single Point of Contact or, where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State, clarification or specifications needed to process a request for information that otherwise would have to be refused.
The time limits set out in Article 5(1) shall be suspended from the moment that the Single Point of Contact or, where applicable, the designated law enforcement authority of the requesting Member State receives the request for clarification or specifications until the moment the requested clarification or specifications are provided.
4. Refusals of requests for information, reasons for such refusals and requests for clarification or specifications and clarification or specifications as referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, as well as any other communications relating to the requests for information submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State, shall be transmitted in the language in which that request was submitted in accordance with Article 4(6).
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
