Mutual assistance in identifying the person concerned
Article 5c
1. Member States shall provide mutual assistance to each other where the competent authorities of the Member State of the offence, after having exhausted all other means available to them, in particular after having conducted an automated search in accordance with Article 4(1); and consulted other databases explicitly allowed to be consulted in accordance with Union and national legislation, still cannot identify the person concerned to the degree of certainty required by its national law to initiate or conduct the follow-up proceedings referred to in Article 5(1). 2. Member States shall provide mutual assistance to one another under this Article. However, if, after the assessment of the circumstances of individual cases, it is determined that the conditions set out in Article 6 of Directive 2014/41/EU are fulfilled, the Member States bound by that Directive may only apply that Directive between themselves. 3. The competent authority of the Member State of the offence shall decide whether to request mutual assistance to obtain additional information referred to in paragraph 5. The request for mutual assistance may be initiated only by the competent authority of the Member State of the offence, in accordance with the law of that Member State. The competent authority of the Member State of the offence shall use the data obtained by mutual assistance in order to establish the identity of the person who is personally liable for the road-safety-related traffic offence listed in Article 2(1) committed on the territory of the Member State of the offence. 4. Where the competent authority of the Member State of the offence has decided to request mutual assistance in accordance with paragraph 1, it shall send an electronically structured request via its national contact point to the national contact point of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence. 5. The competent authority of the Member State of the offence may request the Member State of registration or Member State of residence: (a) to establish the identity and address of the person concerned, in accordance with the law of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence, including by using national databases such as driving licence registers or population registers; (b) to ask the holder, owner or end user of the vehicle with which the road-safety-related traffic offence was committed to provide information on the identity, address and, where available, other contact details of the person liable for the road-safety-related traffic offence, in accordance with the national procedures of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence, which are to be applied as if the investigative measure concerned were ordered by that Member State’s own authorities. 6. The electronically structured request shall include the following information: (a) data elements relating to the person concerned obtained as a result of the automated search conducted in accordance with Article 4(1); (b) if available, the visual recording of the driver retrieved from detection equipment, in particular speed cameras; (c) data relating to the road-safety-related traffic offence, listed in Article 2(1); (d) data relating to the vehicle with which the road-safety-related traffic offence was committed; (e) a reason for the request for mutual assistance. 7. Unless they decide to invoke one of the grounds for refusal listed in paragraph 8 or it is not possible to gather the requested information, the competent authorities of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence shall gather the requested information referred to in paragraph 5, without any undue delay. Without any undue delay and no later than 2 months from the day that the competent authority of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence has gathered the requested information, it shall respond to the request electronically via its national contact point. The competent authority of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence shall comply with the formalities and procedures expressly requested by the competent authority of the Member State of the offence, when gathering the requested information, to the extent that they are not incompatible with their national legislation. 8. The competent authority of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence may refuse to provide the requested additional information referred to in paragraph 5. It shall do so only in one or more of the following cases: (a) there is an immunity or a privilege under the law of the Member State of the registration or Member State of residence, which makes it impossible to provide the information; (b) providing the requested information would be contrary to the principle of ne bis in idem ; (c) providing the requested information would jeopardise an ongoing investigation of a criminal offence; (d) providing the requested information would be contrary to or would harm the essential interests of the national security of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence, jeopardise the source of the information or involve the use of classified information relating to specific intelligence activities; (e) there are substantial grounds to believe that providing the requested information would be incompatible with the obligations of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence in accordance with Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; (f) providing the requested information would jeopardise the safety of an individual or reveal the identity of a person protected in accordance with the law of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence. No later than 2 months from the day when the competent authority of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence decides to apply a ground for refusal, or establishes that it is not possible to gather the requested information, it shall inform the Member State of the offence thereof via its national contact point. The competent authority of the Member State of registration or Member State of residence may decide not to specify which ground of refusal it applies in the cases referred to in the first subparagraph, points (c), (d) and (f).