prop · H103121 · 2014-02-25 00:00:00 — Section 6 – Notification and protection of third parties' rights Article 31 – Notification of documents 1The Parties shall afford each other the widest measure of mutual assistance in the serving of judicial documents to persons affected by provisional measures and confiscation. 2Nothing in this article is intended to interfere with: athe possibility of sending judicial documents, by postal channels, directly to persons abroad; bthe possibility for judicial officers, officials or other competent authorities of the Party of origin to effect service of judicial documents directly through the consular authorities of that Party or through judicial officers, officials or other competent authorities of the Party of destination, unless the Party of destination makes a declaration to the contrary to the Secretary General of at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 3When serving judicial documents to persons abroad affected by provisional measures or confiscation orders issued in the sending Party, this Party shall indicate what legal remedies are available under its law to such persons. Article 32 – Recognition of foreign decisions 1When dealing with a request for co-operation under Sections 3 and 4, the requested Party shall recognise any judicial decision taken in the requesting Party regarding rights claimed by third parties. 2Recognition may be refused if: a third parties did not have adequate opportunity to assert their rights; or b the decision is incompatible with a decision already taken in the requested Party on the same matter; or c it is incompatible with the ordre public of the requested Party; or dthe decision was taken contrary to provisions on exclusive jurisdiction provided for by the law of the requested Party. Section 7 – Procedural and other general rules Article 33 – Central authority 1The Parties shall designate a central authority or, if necessary, authorities, which shall be responsible for sending and answering requests made under this chapter, the execution of such re- quests or the transmission of them to the authorities competent for their execution. 2Each Party shall, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, communicate to the Secretary General of the names and addresses of the authorities designated in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this article. Article 34 – Direct communication 1The central authorities shall communicate directly with one another. 2In the event of urgency, requests or communications under this chapter may be sent directly by the judicial authorities, including public prosecutors, of the requesting Party to such authorities of the requested Party. In such cases a copy shall be sent at the same time to the central authority of the requested Party through the central authority of the requesting Party. 3Any request or communication under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article may be made through the (). 4Where a request is made pursuant to paragraph 2 of this article and the authority is not competent to deal with the request, it shall refer the request to the competent national authority and inform directly the requesting Party that it has done so. 5Requests or communications under Section 2 of this chapter, which do not involve coercive action, may be directly transmitted by the competent authorities of the requesting Party to the competent authorities of the requested Party. 6Draft requests or communications under this chapter may be sent directly by the judicial authorities of the requesting Party to such authorities of the requested Party prior to a formal request to ensure that it can be dealt with efficiently upon receipt and contains sufficient information and supporting documentation for it to meet the requirements of the legislation of the requested Party. Article 35 – Form of request and languages 1All requests under this chapter shall be made in writing. They may be transmitted electronically, or by any other means of tele- communication, provided that the requesting Party is pre- pared, upon request, to produce at any time a written record of such communication and the original. However each Party may, at any time, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of , indicate the conditions in which it is ready to accept and execute requests received electronically or by any other means of communication. 2Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this article, translations of the requests or supporting documents shall not be required. 3At the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, any State or Community may communicate to the Secretary General of a declaration that it reserves the right to require that requests made to it and documents supporting such requests be accompanied by a translation into its own language or into one of the official languages of or into such one of these languages as it shall indicate. It may on that occasion declare its readiness to accept translations in any other language as it may specify. The other Parties may apply the reciprocity rule. Article 36 – Legalisation Documents transmitted in application of this chapter shall be exempt from all legalisation formalities. Article 37 – Content of request 1Any request for co-operation under this chapter shall specify: a the authority making the request and the authority carrying out the investigations or proceedings; b the object of and the reason for the request; c the matters, including the relevant facts (such as date, place and circumstances of the offence) to which the investigations or proceedings relate, except in the case of a request for notification; d in so far as the co-operation involves coercive action: ithe text of the statutory provisions or, where this is not possible, a statement of the relevant law applicable; and iian indication that the measure sought or any other measures having similar effects could be taken in the territory of the requesting Party under its own law; ewhere necessary and in so far as possible: idetails of the person or persons concerned, including name, date and place of birth, nationality and location, and, in the case of a legal person, its seat; and iithe property in relation to which co-operation is sought, its location, its connection with the person or persons concerned, any connection with the offence, as well as any available information about other persons, interests in the property; and fany particular procedure the requesting Party wishes to be followed. 2A request for provisional measures under Section 3 in relation to seizure of property on which a confiscation order consisting in the requirement to pay a sum of money may be realised shall also indicate a maximum amount for which recovery is sought in that property. 3In addition to the indications mentioned in paragraph 1, any request under Section 4 shall contain: a in the case of Article 23, paragraph 1.a: ia certified true copy of the confiscation order made by the court in the requesting Party and a statement of the grounds on the basis of which the order was made, if they are not indicated in the order itself; iian attestation by the competent authority of the requesting Party that the confiscation order is enforceable and not subject to ordinary means of appeal; iiiinformation as to the extent to which the enforcement of the order is requested; and ivinformation as to the necessity of taking any provisional measures; bin the case of Article 23, paragraph 1.b, a statement of the facts relied upon by the requesting Party sufficient to enable the requested Party to seek the order under its domestic law; cwhen third parties have had the opportunity to claim rights, documents demonstrating that this has been the case. Article 38 – Defective requests 1If a request does not comply with the provisions of this chapter or the information supplied is not sufficient to enable the requested Party to deal with the request, that Party may ask the requesting Party to amend the request or to complete it with additional information. 2The requested Party may set a time-limit for the receipt of such amendments or information. 3Pending receipt of the requested amendments or information in relation to a request under Section 4 of this chapter, the requested Party may take any of the measures referred to in Sections 2 or 3 of this chapter. Article 39 – Plurality of requests 1 Where the requested Party receives more than one request under Sections 3 or 4 of this chapter in respect of the same person or property, the plurality of requests shall not prevent that Party from dealing with the requests involving the taking of provisional measures. 2 In the case of plurality of requests under Section 4 of this chapter, the requested Party shall consider consulting the requesting Parties. Article 40 – Obligation to give reasons The requested Party shall give reasons for any decision to refuse, postpone or make conditional any co-operation under this Article 41 – Information The requested Party shall promptly inform the requesting Party the action initiated on a request under this chapter; bthe final result of the action carried out on the basis of the request; ca decision to refuse, postpone or make conditional, in whole or in part, any co-operation under this chapter; dany circumstances which render impossible the carrying out of the action sought or are likely to delay it signifycantly; and ein the event of provisional measures taken pursuant to a request under Sections 2 or 3 of this chapter, such provisions of its domestic law as would automatically lead to the lifting of the provisional measure. 2The requesting Party shall promptly inform the requested Party of: a any review, decision or any other fact by reason of which the confiscation order ceases to be or partially enforceable; and b any development, factual or legal, by reason of which any action under this chapter is no longer justified. 3Where a Party, on the basis of the same confiscation order, requests confiscation in more than one Party, it shall inform all Parties which are affected by an enforcement of the order about the request. Article 42 – Restriction of use 1The requested Party may make the execution of a request dependent on the condition that the information or evidence obtained will not, without its prior consent, be used or transmitted by the authorities of the requesting Party for investigations or proceedings other than those specified in the request. 2Each State or Community may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of , declare that, without its prior consent, information or evidence provided by it under this chapter may not be used or transmitted by the authorities of the requesting Party in investigations or proceedings other than those specified in the request. Article 43 – Confidentiality 1The requesting Party may require that the requested Party keep confidential the facts and substance of the request, except to the extent necessary to execute the request. If the requested Party cannot comply with the requirement of confidentiality, it shall promptly inform the requesting Party. 2The requesting Party shall, if not contrary to basic principles of its national law and if so requested, keep confidential any evidence and information provided by the requested Party, except to the extent that its disclosure is necessary for the investigations or proceedings described in the request. 3Subject to the provisions of its domestic law, a Party which has received spontaneous information under Article 20 shall comply with any requirement of confidentiality as required by the Party which supplies the information. If the other Party cannot comply with such requirement, it shall promptly inform the transmitting Party. Article 44 – Costs The ordinary costs of complying with a request shall be borne by the requested Party. Where costs of a substantial or extraordinary nature are necessary to comply with a request, the Parties shall consult in order to agree the conditions on which the request is to be executed and how the costs shall be borne. Article 45 – Damages 1When legal action on liability for damages resulting from an act or omission in relation to co-operation under this chapter has been initiated by a person, the Parties concerned shall consider consulting each other, where appropriate, to determine how to apportion any sum of damages due. 2A Party which has become subject of a litigation for damages shall endeavour to inform the other Party of such litigation if that Party might have an interest in the case. Chapter V – Co-operation between FIUs Article 46 – Co-operation between FIUs Parties shall ensure that FIUs, as defined in this Convention, shall cooperate for the purpose of combating money launder- ing, to assemble and analyse, or, if appropriate, investigate within the FIU relevant information on any fact which might be an indication of money laundering in accordance with their For the purposes of paragraph 1, each Party shall ensure that FIUs exchange, spontaneously or on request and either in accordance with this Convention or in accordance with exist- ing or future memoranda of understanding compatible with this Convention, any accessible information that may be rele- vant to the processing or analysis of information or, if appropriate, to investigation by the FIU regarding financial transactions related to money laundering and the natural or legal persons involved. Each Party shall ensure that the performance of the functions of the FIUs under this article shall not be affected by their internal status, regardless of whether they are administrative, law enforcement or judicial authorities. Each request made under this article shall be accompanied by a brief statement of the relevant facts known to the requesting The FIU shall specify in the request how the information sought will be used. When a request is made in accordance with this article, the requested FIU shall provide all relevant information, including accessible financial information and requested law enforce- ment data, sought in the request, without the need for a formal letter of request under applicable conventions or agreements between the Parties. An FIU may refuse to divulge information which could lead to impairment of a criminal investigation being conducted in the requested Party or, in exceptional circumstances, where divulging the information would be clearly disproportionate to the legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or the Party concerned or would otherwise not be in accordance with fundamental principles of national law of the requested Party. such refusal shall be appropriately explained to the FIU requesting the information. 7Information or documents obtained under this article shall only be used for the purposes laid down in paragraph 1. Information supplied by a counterpart FIU shall not be disseminated to a third party, nor be used by the receiving FIU for purposes other than analysis, without prior consent of the supplying FIU. 8When transmitting information or documents pursuant to this article, the transmitting FIU may impose restrictions and conditions on the use of information for purposes other than those stipulated in paragraph 7. The receiving FIU shall comply with any such restrictions and conditions. 9Where a Party wishes to use transmitted information or documents for criminal investigations or prosecutions for the purposes laid down in paragraph 7, the transmitting FIU may not refuse its consent to such use unless it does so on the basis of restrictions under its national law or conditions referred to in paragraph 6. refusal to grant consent shall be appropriately explained. 10FIUs shall undertake all necessary measures, including security measures, to ensure that information submitted under this article is not accessible by any other authorities, agencies or departments. 11The information submitted shall be protected, in conformity with 1981 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of (ETS No. 108) and taking account of Recommendation No R(87)15 of of Regulating the Use of in the Sector, by at least the same rules of confidentiality and protection of personal data as those that apply under the national legislation applicable to the requesting FIU. 12The transmitting FIU may make reasonable enquiries as to the use made of information provided and the receiving FIU shall, whenever practicable, provide such feedback. 13Parties shall indicate the unit which is an FIU within the meaning of this article. Article 47 – International co-operation for postponement of suspicious transactions 1Each Party shall adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to permit urgent action to be initiated by a FIU, at the request of a foreign FIU, to suspend or withhold consent to a transaction going ahead for such periods and depending on the same conditions as apply in its domestic law in respect of the postponement of transactions. 2The action referred to in paragraph 1 shall be taken where the requested FIU is satisfied, upon justification by the requesting FIU, that: a the transaction is related to money laundering; and b the transaction would have been suspended, or consent to the transaction going ahead would have been withheld, if the transaction had been the subject of a domestic suspicious transaction report. Chapter VI – Monitoring mechanism and settlement of disputes Article 48 – Monitoring mechanism and settlement of disputes 1The Conference of the Parties (COP) shall be responsible for following the implementation of the Convention. a shall monitor the proper implementation of the Convention by the Parties; b shall, at the request of a Party, express an opinion on any question concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention. 2The COP shall carry out the functions under paragraph 1.a above by using any available on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (Moneyval) public summaries (for Moneyval countries) and any available FATF public summaries (for FATF countries), supplemented by periodic self assessment questionnaires, as appropriate. The monitoring procedure will deal with areas covered by this Convention only in respect of those areas which are not covered by other relevant international standards on which mutual evaluations are carried out by the FATF and Moneyval. 3If the COP concludes that it requires further information in the discharge of its functions, it shall liaise with the Party con- cerned, taking advantage, if so required by the COP, of the procedure and mechanism of Moneyval. The Party concerned shall then report back to the COP. The COP shall on this basis decide whether or not to carry out a more in-depth assessment of the position of the Party concerned. This may, but need not necessarily, involve, a country visit by an evaluation team. 4In case of a dispute between Parties as to the interpretation or application of the Convention, they shall seek a settlement of the dispute through negotiation or any other peaceful means of their choice, including submission of the dispute to the COP, to an arbitral tribunal whose decisions shall be binding upon the Parties, or to the International Court of , as agreed upon by the Parties concerned. 5The COP shall adopt its own rules of procedure. 6The Secretary General of shall convene the COP not later than one year following the entry into force of this Convention. Thereafter, regular meetings of the COP shall be held in accordance with the rules of procedure adopted by the COP. Chapter VII – Final Provisions Article 49 – Signature and entry into force 1 The Convention shall be open for signature by the member States of , Community and non-member States which have participated in its elaboration. Such States or Community may express their consent to be bound by: a signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval; or b signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, followed by ratification, acceptance or approval. 2 Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of . 3 This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which 6 signatories, of which at least four are member States of , have expressed their consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1. 4In respect of any Signatory which subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by it, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of the expression of its consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1. 5No Party to the 1990 Convention may ratify, accept or approve this Convention without considering itself bound by at least the provisions corresponding to the provisions of the 1990 Convention to which it is bound. 6As from its entry into force, Parties to this Convention, which are at the same time Parties to the 1990 Convention: a shall apply the provisions of this Convention in their mutual relationships; b shall continue to apply the provisions of the 1990 Convention in their relations with other Parties to the said Convention, but not to the present Convention. Article 50 – Accession to the Convention 1After the entry into force of this Convention, , after consulting the Parties to the Convention, may invite any State not a member of the Council and not having participated in its elaboration to accede to this Convention, by a decision taken by the majority provided for in Article 20.d. of the Statute of the unanimous vote of the representatives of the Parties entitled to sit on the Committee. 2In respect of any acceding State, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession with the Secretary General of . Article 51 – Territorial application 1Any State or Community may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, specify the territory or territories to which the Convention shall apply. 2Any Party may, at any later date, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of , extend the application of the Convention to any other territory specified in the declaration. In respect of such territory the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of such declaration by the Secretary General. 3Any declaration made under the two preceding paragraphs may, in respect of any territory specified in such declaration, be withdrawn by a notification addressed to the Secretary General. The withdrawal shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of such notification by the Secretary General. Article 52 – Relationship to other conventions and agreements 1This Convention does not affect the rights and undertakings of Parties derived from international multilateral instruments concerning special matters. 2The Parties to this Convention may conclude bilateral or multilateral agreements with one another on the matters dealt with in this Convention, for the purposes of supplementing or strengthening its provisions or facilitating the application of the principles embodied in it.