The Government of the Republic of Slovenia and
The Government of Malta
hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties;
wishing
to contribute to the development of bilateral relations,
to co-operate in the fight against crime, especially organised crime, trafficking in illicit drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, terrorism and other serious crimes,
to enhance their joint efforts in the prevention of terrorism and illicit drug abuse,
to harmonise joint actions against international organised crime;
in view of the provisions of the Single Convention on Drugs (New York, 30 March, 1961), of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (Vienna 21 February, 1971), of the Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 20 December, 1988) and of the “Comprehensive Action Plan” (New York 23 February, 1990) drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations;
have agreed as follows:
Article 1
(1) The Contracting Parties shall, in accordance with their national law, co-operate in the prevention of terrorism, trafficking in illicit drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursors and organised crime, in the detection, suppression and prosecution of such crimes, as well as the prevention, detection, suppression and prosecution of other serious crimes.
(2) The Contracting Parties shall co-operate especially in cases when criminal offences or preparations thereof have been, are, or will be committed on the territory of one of the Contracting Parties and there is an indication of a possibility that similar offences or preparations for similar offences have taken place, are taking place or will take place on the territory of the other Contracting Party.
Article 2
The Contracting Parties shall co-operate in the detection and suppression of crime, especially organised crime, and shall:
a) inform each other about all data on persons involved in organised crime and their connections; about criminal organisations and groups; typical behaviour of perpetrators and groups; facts, with special attention to the time, place and modus operandi of criminal offences; the injured parties; special circumstances, and about the provisions of the penal legislation which were violated and of the measures taken, if this is necessary in certain occasions in order to prevent serious crimes;
b) upon request perform police activities in accordance with the national law of the requested Contracting Party;
c) co-operate in investigations in accordance with the present Agreement and their national law through co-ordinated police measures, including mutual assistance in personnel, technical equipment and organisation;
d) exchange information and experience concerning new forms and methods used in international organised crime;
e) exchange the results of forensic and criminal investigations and expertise, criminological and other studies of crime, inform each other of their investigative practice, as well as of the methods and means used in their work;
f) exchange, upon request, written materials, samples of official documents and objects used in the perpetration of or deriving from criminal offences;
g) exchange experts for the improvement of the quality of their work, and to enable their further training in order to obtain a higher degree of professional knowledge, for the fight against organised crime;
h) organise working meetings in order to discuss the preparation and implementation of necessary measures.
Article 3
For the prevention of and fight against cultivation, production, export, import and transit of illicit drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors (hereinafter referred to as drugs), as well as trafficking in such substances, the Contracting Parties, in accordance with their national law, shall:
a) communicate any information relating to persons involved in illicit drug cultivation, production and trafficking, to drug hideouts, to transportation means and modus operandi, to places of origin and destination of drugs, including any other particular details connected with criminal offences, if this is necessary for the prevention or detection of crime;
b) exchange information concerning current and new ways and routes of international illicit drug trafficking and all other relevant information;
c) exchange the results of forensic and criminal investigations of illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse;
d) exchange samples of new illicit drugs;
e) exchange their experience relating to the supervision of legal trading in drugs in order to further the fight against illegal trafficking in such substances;
f) co-ordinate their police activities, in accordance with their national law.
Article 4
In order to prevent and counter terrorism, the Contracting Parties shall, in accordance with their national law and subject to the present Agreement and other international instruments to which the Contracting Parties adhere:
a) exchange information relating to planned or committed terrorist actions, persons and groups or organisations involved, ways of performance and technical means used in such acts;
b) exchange information about terrorist groups or organisations, the persons who plan, execute or have executed such deeds on the territory of one of the Contracting Parties to its detriment or against its interests, where such information is useful for the suppression of terrorism and for the prevention of other violent criminal offences as defined by the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (Strasbourg, 27 January 1977).
Article 5
In accordance with their national law and the present Agreement the Contracting Parties shall co-operate also in the prevention, detection and suppression of other serious crimes, including money laundering.
Article 6
The co-operation between the Contracting Parties shall also include:
a) the exchange of information regarding the legislation dealing with the fight against the criminal offences which are the subject of co-operation under this Agreement;
b) the exchange of information concerning benefits obtained by criminal activity;
c) the exchange of any information important to one of the Contracting Parties in the fight against trafficking in human beings, as well as the exchange of legislation and experience relating to aliens or migration;
d) if considered necessary, the exchange of liaison officers.
Article 7
(1) For the purpose of implementing the provisions of the present Agreement the Contracting Parties shall designate their competent authorities and duly authorise them to co-operate directly and operatively in accordance with their competencies, which can be specified through bilateral written protocols.
(2) The exchange of information between the competent authorities shall be in English, unless otherwise agreed.
Article 8
The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties, in accordance with their national law and in consideration of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Strasbourg 28 January 1981) and Recommendation No. R 87-(15) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to the Member States regulating the use of personal data in the police sector (Strasbourg 17 September 1987), shall apply the following terms and conditions for the protection of personal data exchanged within their co-operation:
a) the competent authorities receiving such data may process them only for the purposes and under the conditions defined by the sending competent authorities;
b) upon request by the sending competent authority, the receiving competent authority shall inform the former of the processing of such data and of its results;
c) personal data may be delivered only to the authorities or organisations competent for crime suppression, for the fight against terrorism, drug-related crimes and organised crime. Such data shall be transferred to any other authorities only upon previous written consent of the sending competent authority;
d) the competent authority sending the data must make sure that the data is correct, that the delivery of the data is absolutely necessary and that the delivery is in accordance with its aim. Should it turn out that incorrect data or data that should not have been disclosed was delivered, the receiving competent authorities shall be immediately informed of the fact and shall immediately destroy any data delivered by mistake or without permission or correct any incorrect data;
e) upon request by an entitled individual all existing data about him/her, as well as the planned processing thereof, shall be explained to such individual. With respect to giving information on personal data, the national law in force in the state of the delivering competent authority shall prevail;
f) the competent authority that provides the data in compliance with its national law shall also determine upon delivery the valid terms for the deletion of such data. Regardless of the latter fact, all data concerning a particular person must be deleted when it is no longer needed. The sending competent authority shall be informed of the deletion and the reasons thereof. All personal data received shall be destroyed upon termination of the present Agreement;
g) the competent authorities are obliged to keep records of the delivery, receipt and deletion of personal data;
h) the competent authorities shall provide efficient protection of personal data to prevent the access of unauthorised persons to such data and shall not change or publish such data.
Article 9
(1) The Contracting Parties guarantee the confidentiality of all delivered data, classified as confidential by any of the Contracting Parties in accordance with their national law.
(2) The forwarding of materials, data and technical equipment delivered in accordance with the present Agreement to a Third State is possible only upon the written consent of the competent authority of the delivering Contracting Party.
Article 10
(1) The Contracting Parties shall form a Joint Committee for the implementation and evaluation of the co-operation under this Agreement. The Contracting Parties shall inform each other through diplomatic channels of the composition of the Joint Committee, which shall consist of at least three members from each Contracting Party.
(2) The Joint Committee shall meet when needed. Any of the Contracting Parties may initiate, if necessary, meetings of the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee shall hold its meetings alternately in the Republic of Slovenia and in Malta.
Article 11
The Ministers responsible for the Police of the Contracting Parties shall appoint a contact person to keep contacts with the competent authorities of the other Contracting Party.
Article 12
Either Contracting Party may deny, in whole or in part, its co-operation and its support or may set particular conditions therefore, if this is required by its national law, if this endangers the security or other essential interests of the State, or if it violates its national law.
Article 13
The provisions of this Agreement shall not affect any bilateral or multilateral agreement binding the Contracting Parties.
Article 14
(1) The present Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the receipt of the last notification by which the Contracting Parties inform each other of the fulfilment of the internal legal requirements necessary for its entry into force.
(2) The present Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time. Either Contracting Party may terminate the present Agreement through diplomatic channels. The termination shall become effective six months following the date when the notification of termination is received.
Done in Ljubljana on 16th July 2003 in two original copies, each in the Slovenian, Maltese and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of any divergence of interpretation the English text shall prevail.
For the Government of the Republic of Slovenia dr. Rado Bohinc (s)
For the Government of the Republic of Malta Tonio Borg (s)