S.L. 460.8 Art. 5Central liaison office, liaison offices and liaison departments.

(1) It shall be the function of the central liaison office to act as a requested authority or an applicant authority, as the case may be. It shall also be responsible for the distribution of requests to the liaison offices according to their area of competence and to assist liaison offices with their requests.

(2) It shall be the function of a liaison office to deal with the requests handed over to it by the central liaison office, and to make contact with other Member States on matters concerning mutual assistance in its area of competence. In dealing with requests, a liaison office shall act in accordance with its own practices or procedures, and shall keep the central liaison office informed of the outcome of the actions taken by it.

(3) Every communication sent by a liaison office to another Member State shall be sent through the central liaison office.

(4) A liaison office -

(a) who receives a request outside the competence assigned to it by the competent authority, shall forward the request to the competent office or department concerned;

(b) who is unaware of the competent office or department under paragraph (a), shall forward the request to the central liaison office and inform the applicant AND OTHER MEASURES)

accordingly.

(5) In the fulfilment of its functions under this Order, the central liaison office or liaison offices shall:

(a) assess every request on a case by case basis;

(b) communicate with other Member States through the use of electronic means;

(c) act efficiently;

(d) treat confidentially any information communicated to or obtained by it in the course of its duties.