S.L. 164.6 Art. 7Requests for information to the International Relations Unit. 8 [S.L. 9

(1) Requests for information submitted by the

International Relations Unit to the Single Point of Contact of another

Member State shall comply with the requirements established in sub-regulations (2) to (6).

(2) Whenever the designated law enforcement authorities pursuant to the Schedule submit a request for information to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State, they shall at the same time, send a copy to the International Relations Unit.

(3) In accordance with established internal guidelines, the designated law enforcement authorities shall send a copy of a request for information to the International Relations Unit while submitting the request to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State, including in case of:

(a) an ongoing highly sensitive investigation for which the processing of information requires an appropriate level of confidentiality;

(b) terrorism cases not involving emergency or crisis management situations;

(c) the safety of an individual.

(4) Requests for information shall be submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State only where there are objective reasons to believe, in accordance with internal guidelines, that:

(a) the requested information is necessary for and proportionate to achieving the purpose referred to in regulation 1; and BETWEEN NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES AND OTHER AUTHORITIES OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION HAVING 164.06 SIMILAR POWERS

(b) the requested information is available to such other Member State.

(5) Any request for information submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State shall specify whether it is urgent and, if so, it shall give reasons for the urgency. Such requests for information shall be considered urgent where, having regard to all relevant facts and circumstances of the case at hand, there are objective reasons to believe that the requested information is one or more of the following:

(a) essential for the prevention of an immediate and serious threat to the public security of Malta or another Member State;

(b) necessary in order to prevent an imminent threat to life or the physical integrity of a person;

(c) necessary to adopt a decision that might involve the maintenance of restrictive measures amounting to a deprivation of liberty;

(d) at imminent risk of losing relevance if not provided urgently and is considered important for the prevention, detection, or investigation of criminal offences.

(6) Requests for information submitted to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State shall contain all necessary details to allow for their adequate and rapid processing, including at least the following:

(a) a specification of the requested information that is as detailed as reasonably possible under the given circumstances;

(b) a description of the purpose for which the information is requested, including a description of the facts and indication of the underlying offence;

(c) the objective reasons for which it is believed that the requested information is available to the International Relations Unit;

(d) an explanation of the connection between the purpose for which the information is requested and any natural or legal person or entity to which the information relates, where applicable; AUTHORITIES AND OTHER AUTHORITIES OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION HAVING

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(e) the reasons for which the request is considered urgent, where applicable, in accordance with sub-regulation (5);

(f) restrictions on the use of the information contained in the request for purposes other than those for which it has been submitted.

(7) The International Relations Unit shall establish and keep up to date a list indicating one or more of the languages, including English, in which it is able to exchange information. This list shall be provided to the European Commission.

(8) The International Relations Unit shall ensure that requests for information and information submitted on their own initiative are provided to the Single Point of Contact of another Member State in one of the languages included in the list established by such other Member State.

(9) The competent law enforcement authorities shall, when providing information on their own initiative, submit that information in one of the languages included in the list established by the Single Point of Contact of such other Member State.