|
TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION
TITLE VI
Provisions on Police and Judicial Cooperation
in Criminal Matters
Article 29 (ex Article K.1)
Without prejudice to the powers of the European
Community, the Union's objective shall be to provide citizens
with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security
and justice by developing common action among the Member States
in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
and by preventing and combating racism and xenophobia.
That objective shall be achieved by preventing
and combating crime, organised or otherwise, in particular terrorism,
trafficking in persons and offences against children, illicit
drug trafficking and illicit arms trafficking, corruption and
fraud, through:
— closer cooperation between police
forces, customs authorities and other competent authorities in
the Member States, both directly and through the European Police
Office (Europol), in accordance with the provisions of Articles
30 and 32;
— closer cooperation between judicial
and other competent authorities of the Member States in accordance
with the provisions of Articles 31(a) to (d) and 32;
— approximation, where necessary, of
rules on criminal matters in the Member States, in accordance
with the provisions of Article 31(e).
Article 30 (ex Article K.2)
1. Common action in the field of police
cooperation shall include:
(a) operational cooperation between the competent
authorities, including the police, customs and other specialised
law enforcement services of the Member States in relation to the
prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences;
(b) the collection, storage, processing,
analysis and exchange of relevant information, including information
held by law enforcement services on reports on suspicious financial
transactions, in particular through Europol, subject to appropriate
provisions on the protection of personal data;
(c) cooperation and joint initiatives in
training, the exchange of liaison officers, secondments, the use
of equipment, and forensic research;
(d) the common evaluation of particular investigative
techniques in relation to the detection of serious forms of organised
crime.
2. The Council shall promote cooperation
through Europol and shall in particular, within a period of five
years after the date of entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam:
(a) enable Europol to facilitate and support
the preparation, and to encourage the coordination and carrying
out, of specific investigative actions by the competent authorities
of the Member States, including operational actions of joint teams comprising
representatives of Europol in a support capacity;
(b) adopt measures allowing Europol to ask
the competent authorities of the Member States to conduct and
coordinate their investigations in specific cases and to develop
specific expertise which may be put at the disposal of Member
States to assist them in investigating cases of organised crime;
(c) promote liaison arrangements between
prosecuting/investigating officials specialising in the fight
against organised crime in close cooperation with Europol;
(d) establish a research, documentation and
statistical network on cross-border crime.
Article 31 (ex Article K.3)
Common action on judicial cooperation in criminal
matters shall include:
(a) facilitating and accelerating cooperation
between competent ministries and judicial or equivalent authorities
of the Member States in relation to proceedings and the enforcement
of decisions;
(b) facilitating extradition between Member
States;
(c) ensuring compatibility in rules applicable
in the Member States, as may be necessary to improve such cooperation;
(d) preventing conflicts of jurisdiction
between Member States;
(e) progressively adopting measures establishing
minimum rules relating to the constituent elements of criminal
acts and to penalties in the fields of organised crime, terrorism
and illicit drug trafficking.
Article 32 (ex Article K.4)
The Council shall lay down the conditions and
limitations under which the competent authorities referred to
in Articles 30 and 31 may operate in the territory of another
Member State in liaison and in agreement with the authorities
of that State.
Article 33 (ex Article K.5)
This Title shall not affect the exercise of
the responsibilities incumbent upon Member States with regard
to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal
security.
Article 34 (ex Article K.6)
1. In the areas referred to in this Title,
Member States shall inform and consult one another within the
Council with a view to coordinating their action. To that end,
they shall establish collaboration between the relevant departments
of their administrations.
2. The Council shall take measures and promote
cooperation, using the appropriate form and procedures as set
out in this Title, contributing to the pursuit of the objectives
of the Union. To that end, acting unanimously on the initiative
of any Member State or of the Commission, the Council may:
(a) adopt common positions defining the approach
of the Union to a particular matter;
(b) adopt framework decisions for the purpose
of approximation of the laws and regulations of the Member States.
Framework decisions shall be binding upon the Member States as
to the result to be achieved but shall leave to the national authorities
the choice of form and methods. They shall not entail direct effect;
(c) adopt decisions for any other purpose
consistent with the objectives of this Title, excluding any approximation
of the laws and regulations of the Member States. These decisions
shall be binding and shall not entail direct effect; the Council,
acting by a qualified majority, shall adopt measures necessary
to implement those decisions at the level of the Union;
(d) establish conventions which it shall
recommend to the Member States for adoption in accordance with
their respective constitutional requirements. Member States shall
begin the procedures applicable within a time limit to be set
by the Council.
Unless they provide otherwise, conventions shall,
once adopted by at least half of the Member States, enter into
force for those Member States. Measures implementing conventions
shall be adopted within the Council by a majority of two-thirds
of the Contracting Parties.
3. Where the Council is required to act
by a qualified majority, the votes of its members shall be weighted
as laid down in Article 205(2) of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, and for their adoption acts of the Council
shall require at least 62 votes in favour, cast by at least 10
members.
4. For procedural questions, the Council
shall act by a majority of its members.
Article 35 (ex Article K.7)
1. The Court of Justice of the European
Communities shall have jurisdiction, subject to the conditions
laid down in this Article, to give preliminary rulings on the
validity and interpretation of framework decisions and decisions,
on the interpretation of conventions established under this Title
and on the validity and interpretation of the measures implementing
them.
2. By a declaration made at the time of
signature of the Treaty of Amsterdam or at any time thereafter,
any Member State shall be able to accept the jurisdiction of the
Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings as specified in paragraph
1.
3. A Member State making a declaration pursuant
to paragraph 2 shall specify that either:
(a) any court or tribunal of that State against
whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law
may request the Court of Justice to give a preliminary ruling
on a question raised in a case pending before it and concerning
the validity or interpretation of an act referred to in paragraph
1 if that court or tribunal considers that a decision on the question
is necessary to enable it to give judgement, or
(b) any court or tribunal of that State may
request the Court of Justice to give a preliminary ruling on a
question raised in a case pending before it and concerning the
validity or interpretation of an act referred to in paragraph
1 if that court or tribunal considers that a decision on the question
is necessary to enable it to give judgment.
4. Any Member State, whether or not it has
made a declaration pursuant to paragraph 2, shall be entitled
to submit statements of case or written observations to the Court
in cases which arise under paragraph 1.
5. The Court of Justice shall have no jurisdiction
to review the validity or proportionality of operations carried
out by the police or other law enforcement services of a Member
State or the exercise of the responsibilities incumbent upon Member
States with regard to the maintenance of law and order and the
safeguarding of internal security.
6. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdication
to review the legality of framework decisions and decisions in
actions brought by a Member State or the Commission on grounds
of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural
requirement, infringement of this Treaty or of any rule of law
relating to its application, or misuse of powers. The proceedings
provided for in this paragraph shall be instituted within two
months of the publication of the measure.
7. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction
to rule on any dispute between Member States regarding the interpretation
or the application of acts adopted under Article 34(2) whenever
such dispute cannot be settled by the Council within six months
of its being referred to the Council by one of its members. The
Court shall also have jurisdication to rule on any dispute between
Member States and the Commission regarding the interpretation
or the application of conventions established under Article 34(2)(d).
| 
