Council Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on joint investigation teams
Date: 2002-06-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: criminal law, criminal liability, fact-finding mission, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, offence

20.6.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 162/1

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

COUNCIL FRAMEWORK DECISION

of 13 June 2002

on joint investigation teams

(2002/465/JHA)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the European Union, and in
particular Article 34(2)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium, the
French Republic,
the Kingdom of Spain and the United
Kingdom (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

One of the Union’s objectives is to provide citizens with
a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security
and justice and this objective is to be achieved by pre-
venting and combating crime through closer cooperation
between police forces, customs authorities and other
competent authorities in the Member States, while re-
specting the principles of human rights and fundamental
freedoms and the rule of law on which the Union is
founded and which are common to the Member States.

The European Council held in Tampere on 15 and 16
October 1999 called for joint investigation teams as
foreseen in the Treaty to be set up without delay, as a
first step, to combat trafficking in drugs and human
beings as well as terrorism.

Provision has been made in Article 13 of the Convention
established by the Council in accordance with Article 34
of the Treaty on European Union on Mutual Assistance
in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the
European Union (3) for the establishment and operation
of joint investigation teams.

The Council urges that all measures be taken to ensure
that this Convention is ratified as soon as possible, and
in any event in the course of 2002.

The Council recognises that it is important to respond
quickly to the European Council’s call for the setting up
of joint investigative teams without delay.

The Council considers that for the purpose of combating
international crime as effectively as possible, it is appro-
priate that at this stage a specific legally binding instru-

(1) OJ C 295, 20.10.2001, p. 9.
(2) Opinion delivered on 13 November 2001 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) OJ C 197, 12.7.2000, p. 1.

(7)

(8)

(9)

ment on joint investigation teams should be adopted at
the level of the Union which should apply to joint inves-
tigations into trafficking in drugs and human beings as
well as terrorism.

The Council considers that such teams should be set up,
as a matter of priority, to combat offences committed by
terrorists.

The Member States that set up a team should decide on
its composition, purpose and duration.

The Member States setting up a team should have the
possibility to decide, where possible and in accordance
with applicable law, to let persons not representing the
competent authorities of Member States take part in the
activities of the team, and that such persons may include
representatives of, for example, Europol, the Commission
(OLAF) or representatives of authorities of non Member
States, and in particular representatives of law enforce-
ment authorities of the United States. In such cases the
agreement setting up the team should specify issues re-
lating to possible liability for such representatives.

(10) A joint investigating team should operate in the territory
of a Member State in conformity with the law applicable
to that Member State.

(11)

This Framework Decision should be without prejudice to
any other existing provisions or arrangements on the set-
ting up or operation of joint investigation teams,

HAS ADOPTED THIS FRAMEWORK DECISION:

Article 1

Joint investigation teams

By mutual agreement, the competent authorities of two
1.
or more Member States may set up a joint investigation team
for a specific purpose and a limited period, which may be ex-
tended by mutual consent, to carry out criminal investigations
in one or more of the Member States setting up the team. The
composition of the team shall be set out in the agreement.

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A joint investigation team may, in particular, be set up where:

(a) a Member State’s investigations into criminal offences re-
quire difficult and demanding investigations having links
with other Member States;

(b) a number of Member States are conducting investigations
into criminal offences in which the circumstances of the
case necessitate coordinated, concerted action in the Mem-
ber States involved.

A request for the setting up of a joint investigation team may
be made by any of the Member States concerned. The team
shall be set up in one of the Member States in which the inves-
tigations are expected to be carried out.

In addition to the information referred to in the relevant
2.
provisions of Article 14 of the European Convention on Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters and Article 37 of the Benelux
Treaty of 27 June 1962, as amended by the Protocol of 11 May
1974, requests for the setting up of a joint investigation team
shall include proposals for the composition of the team.

3.
A joint investigation team shall operate in the territory of
the Member States setting up the team under the following
general conditions:

(a) The leader of the team shall be a representative of the com-
petent authority participating in criminal
investigations
from the Member State in which the team operates. The
leader of the team shall act within the limits of his or her
competence under national law.

(b) The team shall carry out its operations in accordance with
the law of the Member State in which it operates. The
members of the team shall carry out their tasks under the
leadership of the person referred to in subparagraph (a),
taking into account the conditions set by their own authori-
ties in the agreement on setting up the team.

(c) The Member State in which the team operates shall make
the necessary organisational arrangements for it to do so.

4.
In this Framework Decision, members of the joint investi-
gation team from Member States other than the Member State
in which the team operates are referred to as being ‘seconded’
to the team.

5.
Seconded members of the joint investigation team shall
be entitled to be present when investigative measures are taken
in the Member State of operation. However, the leader of the
team may, for particular reasons, in accordance with the law of
the Member State where the team operates, decide otherwise.

Seconded members of the joint investigation team may,
6.
in accordance with the law of the Member State where the team
operates, be entrusted by the leader of the team with the task
of taking certain investigative measures where this has been ap-
proved by the competent authorities of the Member State of
operation and the seconding Member State.

7. Where the joint investigation team needs investigative
measures to be taken in one of the Member States setting up
the team, members seconded to the team by that Member State
may request their own competent authorities to take those
measures. Those measures shall be considered in that Member
State under the conditions which would apply if they were re-
quested in a national investigation.

8. Where the joint investigation team needs assistance from
a Member State other than those which have set up the team,
or from a third State, the request for assistance may be made
by the competent authorities of the State of operations to the
competent authorities of the other State concerned in accor-
dance with the relevant instruments or arrangements.

9.
A member of the joint investigation team may, in accor-
dance with his or her national law and within the limits of his
or her competence, provide the team with information available
in the Member State which has seconded him or her for the
purpose of the criminal investigations conducted by the team.

10.
Information lawfully obtained by a member or seconded
member while part of a joint investigation team which is not
otherwise available to the competent authorities of the Member
States concerned may be used for the following purposes:

(a) for the purposes for which the team has been set up;

(b) subject to the prior consent of the Member State where the
information became available, for detecting,
investigating
and prosecuting other criminal offences. Such consent may
be withheld only in cases where such use would endanger
criminal investigations in the Member State concerned or in
respect of which that Member State could refuse mutual
assistance;

(c) for preventing an immediate and serious threat to public
security, and without prejudice to subparagraph (b) if sub-
sequently a criminal investigation is opened;

(d) for other purposes to the extent that this is agreed between

Member States setting up the team.

11.
This Framework Decision shall be without prejudice to
any other existing provisions or arrangements on the setting up
or operation of joint investigation teams.

To the extent that the laws of the Member States con-
12.
cerned or the provisions of any legal instrument applicable be-
tween them permit, arrangements may be agreed for persons
other than representatives of the competent authorities of the
Member States setting up the joint investigation team to take
part in the activities of the team. Such persons may, for exam-
ple, include officials of bodies set up pursuant to the Treaty.
The rights conferred upon the members or seconded members
of the team by virtue of this Framework Decision shall not ap-
ply to these persons unless the agreement expressly states
otherwise.

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Article 2

Criminal liability regarding officials

Article 4

Implementation

During the operations referred to in Article 1, officials from a
Member State other than the Member State of operation shall
be regarded as officials of the Member State of operation with
respect to offences committed against them or by them.

Article 3

Civil liability regarding officials

1. Where, in accordance with Article 1, officials of a Mem-
ber State are operating in another Member State, the first Mem-
ber State shall be liable for any damage caused by them during
their operations, in accordance with the law of the Member
State in whose territory they are operating.

2.
The Member State in whose territory the damage referred
to in paragraph 1 was caused shall make good such damage
under the conditions applicable to damage caused by its own
officials.

3.
The Member State whose officials have caused damage to
any person in the territory of another Member State shall reim-
burse the latter in full any sums it has paid to the victims or
persons entitled on their behalf.

4. Without prejudice to the exercise of its rights vis-à-vis
third parties and with the exception of paragraph 3, each Mem-
ber State shall refrain, in the case provided for in paragraph 1,
from requesting reimbursement of damages it has sustained
from another Member State.

1. Member States shall
take the necessary measures to
comply with the provisions of this Framework Decision by
1 January 2003.

2. Member States shall transmit to the General Secretariat of
the Council and the Commission the text of any provisions
transposing into their national law the obligations imposed on
them under this Framework Decision. On the basis of this and
other information, the Commission shall, by 1 July 2004, sub-
mit a report to the Council on the operation of this Framework
Decision. The Council shall assess the extent to which the
Member States have complied with this Framework Decision.

Article 5

Entry into force

This Framework Decision shall enter into force on the date of
its publication in the Official Journal. It shall cease to have ef-
fect when the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal
Matters between Member States of the European Union has en-
tered into force in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 13 June 2002.

For the Council

The President

M. RAJOY BREY