98/427/JHA: Joint Action of 29 June 1998 adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on good practice in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters
Date: 1998-06-29
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: criminal proceedings, joint action, judicial cooperation

7. 7. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 191/1

(Acts adopted pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union)

JOINT ACTION

of 29 June 1998

adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European
Union, on good practice in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

(98/427/JHA)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular Article K.3(2)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the Report from the high-level group on
organised crime (1) approved by the European Council
held at Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June 1997, and in
particular Recommendation No 16 of the Report,

Having regard to the results of the seminar on ‘Improving
judicial cooperation and protecting human rights' held in
Luxembourg on 1 and 2 October 1997,

Taking into account the Joint Action 98/428/JHA of 29
June 1998, adopted by the Council on the basis of Article
K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the creation of
a European Judicial Network (2), and in particular Articles
4 and 5 thereof,

Having regard to the European Convention on Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959, other
conventions in force in this area and the proposed
Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters
between the Member States,

Whereas it is necessary to make further practical improve-
ments regarding mutual
legal assistance between the
Member States, particularly for the purpose of combating
serious crime,

the European Parlia-
Having examined the views of
ment (3), following consultation carried out by the Pre-
sidency in accordance with Article K.6 of the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING JOINT ACTION:

Article 1

Statements of good practice

in executing requests,
Statement of good practice
including transmission of results,
from other Member
States and sending requests to other Member States for
legal assistance in criminal matters.

2.
The General Secretariat of the Council shall translate
the Statements referred to in Article 1 into the official
languages of the Community and circulate the transla-
tions to Member States.

3.
The Statements by each Member State referred to in
paragraph 1 shall, without prejudice to the provisions of
the proposed Convention on mutual assistance in crim-
inal matters between the Member States, and subject to
include
the Declaration annexed to this Joint Action,
undertakings
in
accordance with its national law and legal procedures:

to promote the following practices

(a) where requested to do so by the requesting Member
State, to acknowledge all requests and written en-
quiries concerning the execution of requests unless a
substantive reply is
the requesting
Member State may not require an acknowledgment
unless the request is marked ‘urgent' by that Member
State or, in its view, an acknowledgment is necessary
in the light of the circumstnaces of the case;

sent quickly;

(b) when acknowledging the requests and enquiries
the
referred to in this paragraph,
requesting authority with the name and contact
details, including telephone and fax numbers, of the
authority, and if possible the person, responsible for
executing the request;

to provide

1.
Each Member State shall deposit with the General
Secretariat of the Council of the European Union within
12 months of the coming into force of this Joint Action a

(1) OJ C 251, 15. 8. 1997, p. 1.
(2) See page 4 of this Official Journal.
(3) Opinion delivered on 3 April 1998 (OJ C 138, 4.5.1998).

(c)

to give priority, as far as it is not contrary to the law of
the requested Member State, to requests which have
clearly been marked ‘urgent' by the requesting
requests, whether or not
authority; and to treat
marked ‘urgent', no less favourably than comprable
enquiries made in the requested Member State on
behalf of that Member State’s own authorities;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

7. 7. 98

(d) where the assistance requested cannot be executed in
whole or in part, to give the requesting authorities a
written or oral report explaining the difficulty and
where possible offering to consider jointly with the
requesting authority how the difficulty might be over-
come;

crime, established in Joint Action 97/827/JHA (1), each
Member State shall periodically review compliance with
its Statements made in accordance with Article 1. The
mechanism for such review shall be for each Member
State to determine having regard to its own arrangements
for legal assistance in criminal matters.

in the

requesting Member

(e) where it is foreseeable that the assistance cannot, or
cannot fully, be provided within any deadline set by
the requesting Member State and that this will impair
State,
proceedings
promptly to give its authority a written or oral report,
and any further reports requested by that authority
explaining when the assistance requested is likely to
be provided;
to submit requests for assistance as soon as the precise
assistance needed is identified and, where a request is
marked ‘urgent' or a deadline is indicated, to explain
the reasons for the urgency or deadline; the Statement
shall include an undertaking not to mark as ‘urgent'
requests which are of minor importance;
to ensure that requests are submitted in compliance
with the relevant treaty or other international arrange-
ments;

(g)

(f)

(h) when submitting requests for assistance, to provide
the requested authorities with the name and contact
details, including telephone and fax numbers, of the
authority and, if possible, the person responsible for
issuing the request.

4.
Each Member State shall bring its Statement to the
attention of its judicial or competent authorities, inviting
them to promote measures within their competence as
may be necessary with a view to its implementation.

5. Any Statement submitted in accordance with this
Article may, without prejudice to paragraph 3, be modi-
fied at any time by the Member State which made it by
means of a further Statement deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Council. Any such further Statement
shall be for the purposes of further improving good prac-
tice in executing requests for legal assistance in criminal
matters.

Article 2

Review of performance

Without prejudice to the mechanism for evaluating the
application and implementation at national level of inter-
in the fight against organised
national undertakings

Article 3

European Judicial Network

The General Secretariat of the Council shall make the
Statements referred to in Article 1(1) available to the
European Judicial Network as soon as they are deposited.
The Network shall take stock of the Statements in the
light of its own competencies and experience, and may
make any proposals it considers appropriate with a view
to improving legal
in criminal matters,
assistance
including finding common methods for evaluation of
performance.

Article 4

Review

The Council shall review this Joint Action in the light of
the results of the operation of the mechanism for evalu-
ating the application and implementation at national
level of international undertakings in the fight against
organised crime, established in Joint Action 97/827/JHA.

Article 5

Entry into force

This Joint Action shall enter into force on the day of its
publication.

Article 6

Publication

This Joint Action shall be published in the Official
Journal.

Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1998.

For the Council

The President

R. COOK

(1) OJ L 344, 15. 12. 1997, p. 7.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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ANNEX

DECLARATION BY THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

The Federal Republic of Germany states that the German authorities will issue acknowledgements
pursuant to Article 1(3)(a) and (b) of the Joint Action on good practice in mutual legal assistance in
criminal matters if they are of the opinion that these are appropriate for expediting the execution of
the relevant request or the written enquiry.