Act No 1/99 of the joint Supervisory Body of Europol of 22 April 1999 laying down its rules of procedure
28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/1 (Acts adopted pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union) ACT No 1/99 OF THE JOINT SUPERVISORY BODY OF EUROPOL of 22 April 1999 laying down its rules of procedure (1999/C 149/01) THE JOINT SUPERVISORY BODY, the Treaty Having regard to the Convention based on Article K. 3 of the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention) (1), and in particular Article 24(7) thereof, on European Union, on Whereas it is for the Joint Supervisory Body acting unanimously to lay down its rules of procedure, HAS ADOPTED THESE RULES OF PROCEDURE: (1) OJ C 316, 27. 11. 1995, p. 1. 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/3 RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT SUPERVISORY BODY OF EUROPOL C 149/4 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 CONTENTS TITLE I Tasks and powers of the Joint Supervisory Body. Article 1 Tasks. Article 2 Powers. Article 3 Committees. TITLE II Rules of Procedure for the Joint Supervisory Body. Article 4 Membership. Article 5 Chair. Article 6 Working methods. Article 7 Checks on location and experts. Article 8 Procedure in the event of violations. Article 9 Minutes. Article 10 Activity report. TITLE III Rules of Procedure of the Appeals Committee. Article 11 Tasks of the Appeals Committee. Article 12 Membership. Article 13 Independence and impartiality. Article 14 Chair. Article 15 Representation. Article 16 Languages. Article 17 Institution of the procedure. Article 18 Preliminary consideration. Article 19 Additional information. Article 20 Access to file of procedure. Article 21 Hearing. Article 22 Hearing of witnesses and experts. Article 23 Closing statements. Article 24 Minutes. Article 25 Decisions and confidentiality. Article 26 Notifications. Article 27 Costs. Article 28 Due process. TITLE IV Final provisions. Article 29 Secretariat. Article 30 Confidentiality. Article 31 Budget and costs. Article 32 Amendment of the Rules of Procedure. Article 33 Evaluation. Article 34 Entry into force of the Rules of Procedure. Page 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/5 TITLE I TASKS AND POWERS OF THE JOINT SUPERVISORY BODY Article 1 Tasks The Joint Supervisory Body shall have the task of 1. reviewing, in accordance with the Convention, the activities of Europol in order to ensure that the rights of the individual are not violated by the storage, processing and utilisation of the data held by Europol. In addition, it shall monitor the permissibility of the from Europol transmission of data originating (Article 24(1), the Convention). first and second sentences of For this purpose, the Joint Supervisory Body has 2. the following tasks, in particular: (a) examination of orders opening a data (Article 12(1), sentence of the Convention); second sentence and (2), file third (b) examination of provisions concerning the drawing up of reports on the retrieval of personal data (Article 16, first sentence of the Convention); (c) examination of the general communication of personal data by Europol to third States and third bodies (Article 18(2), second sentence of the Convention); rules for (d) examination of questions relating to: — the implementation and interpretation of the Convention in connection with Europol’s activities and utilisation of personal data (Article 24(3), first alternative of the Convention), processing regards the as — checks carried out the national supervisory bodies of the Member States (Article 24(3), second alternative of the Convention), independently by — the exercise of 24(3), (Article Convention), the third right to information the of alternative — the drawing up of harmonised proposals for problems the existing alternative to fourth solutions 24(3), of common (Article Convention); collection, (e) examination of the lawfulness and accuracy of a and the the possible utilisation of personal data by Europol at request of an individual (Article 24(4) of Convention); processing storage, (f) drawing up of activity reports at regular intervals (Article 24(6) of the Convention). Article 2 Powers The 1. the Joint Supervisory Body shall, discharge of its tasks, have the powers provided for in the Convention. for In particular, the Joint Supervisory Body shall be 2. authorised to obtain information from Europol, to be given access to all documents and paper files as well as access to the data stored by Europol, and to be granted free access to all Europol premises at any time includes (Article 24(2) of information on and access to hardware and software, whenever this is necessary for the performance of the tasks of the Joint Supervisory Body. Details may be stipulated Joint Supervisory Body and the Management Board of Europol. the Convention). This arrangements between the in Article 3 Committees 1. The Joint Supervisory Body shall set up the committee provided for under Article 24(7) of the Convention. It may set up one or more other 2. internal committees and determine their composition and terms of reference (Article 24(8) of the Convention). C 149/6 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 TITLE II RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE JOINT SUPERVISORY BODY Article 4 Membership concerned. Appointment as a member shall not be revoked other than in accordance with national law. This shall apply likewise to the alternates. 1. The Joint Supervisory Body shall be composed of not more than two members or representatives of each of the national supervisory bodies which shall form a delegation. Each member may have an alternate. The the Joint Supervisory Body and their members of alternates shall be appointed for five years by each Member State (Article 24(1), third sentence of the Convention) which term shall be renewable. 2. The members of the Joint Supervisory Body and their alternates shall be independent, not bound by instructions in the exercise of their duties and subject only to the law. In particular, they must not at the same time be members of another body set up under the Convention or staff members of Europol. interest arises, Where a conflict of the person concerned shall declare that interest and withdraw from taking part in the discussion and the decision on the matter. He may, where necessary, be excluded by a majority of the votes cast in a secret ballot by the delegations person concerned shall be heard before any exclusion, but shall not If a person withdraws or is excluded, he may be replaced by his alternate. the meeting. The in the decision. take part attending Article 5 Chair The elect shall Joint 1. a Supervisory Body chairman and a deputy chairman from among its members by a majority of two thirds of the votes cast in a secret ballot by the delegations attending the meeting. The deputy chairman shall not be a member of the chairman’s delegation. If none of the candidates achieves the required majority in the first round of voting, a second round shall take place between the two candidates having received the most votes. The chairman and his deputy shall be elected for a term of office of two years. Election for a second term of one year shall be possible. the The represent chairman 2. Joint shall Supervisory Body and chair its meetings. He shall monitor the smooth functioning of its work. He shall convene the meetings of the Joint Supervisory Body and determine the venue, date and time of such meetings. He shall open and close the meetings. He shall prepare the provisional agenda and ensure the execution of the decisions of the Joint Supervisory Body. 3. Only persons having the necessary abilities may be appointed to serve as members of the Joint Supervisory Body or their alternates (Article 24(1), third sentence of the Convention). Particular regard shall be had to the requirements for the Appeals Committee. 4. A member of the Joint Supervisory Body who is unable to attend a meeting may be represented by his alternate. 5. Membership of the Joint Supervisory Body shall cease when the person concerned resigns. It shall also cease when that person ceases to serve as member or representative of the national supervisory body, unless his term of office is reconfirmed by the Member State 3. The deputy chairman shall act for the chairman if he is unable to attend. In the absence of the deputy chairman the oldest member in terms of age shall act as deputy chairman. The first meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body shall be convened and chaired by the oldest member in terms of age until the election of the Chairman. In order to prepare the work of 4. the Joint Supervisory Body with regard to a particular issue, it may appoint from among its members, on a proposal from the chairman, one or several rapporteurs. If the matter is urgent, such an appointment may be made by the chairman by virtue of his office. In this case he shall inform the members of the Joint Supervisory Body without delay. 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/7 5. The chairman or a majority of the delegations may request the attendance at meetings of the director and invite staff members of Europol, national experts, liaison officers and other persons to attend. Article 6 Working methods The Joint Supervisory Body shall meet at least 1. four times a year. Furthermore, it shall meet at the initiative of the chairman and whenever at least three delegations submit a written proposal stating reasons, or present an oral proposal in a previous meeting. The chairman of the Management Board and the director of Europol shall be entitled to propose items for inclusion on the agenda and to propose that the Joint Supervisory Body be convened. 2. With the exception of cases which the chairman deems to be urgent, the notice convening the meeting shall be transmitted in time to arrive at least two weeks before the meeting. The notice shall include the provisional agenda and the documents needed for the meeting, unless the nature of these documents does not allow so. The final agenda shall be adopted at the beginning of each meeting. if at A meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body shall 3. only be effective, the least delegations attend. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the delegations attending, unless provided otherwise in these rules. Each delegation shall be entitled to one vote. In case of a tied vote, the chairman shall have a casting vote. two thirds of 4. The meetings of the Joint Supervisory Body shall not be public. Its documents shall be confidential, unless the Joint Supervisory Body decides otherwise. However documents submitted by Europol shall be subject referred to in Article 31(1) of the Convention. to the confidentiality rules 5. The Joint Supervisory Body shall meet on the basis of documents and draft papers drawn up in all official languages of the institutions of the European Union. Exceptions to this rule shall be admissible only in cases of urgency. However, each delegation shall have the right to require a translation in its own language. 6. Decisions of the Joint Supervisory Body may be taken by written procedure in so far as all delegations have approved this procedure in a meeting. In urgent cases the chairman shall be entitled to initiate the written procedure. In both cases the chairman shall transmit a draft decision to the members of the Joint Supervisory Body. If the delegations do not object to translated into the respective the draft decision, official languages, within a period specified by the chairman of at least 14 days after receipt, the proposal shall be deemed to be adopted. If a delegation, within five working days after receipt of the draft decision, it be orally discussed by the Joint requests Supervisory Body, the written procedure shall be discontinued. that Article 7 Checks on location and experts In the framework of its powers in accordance 1. Joint with Article 24 of Supervisory Body may carry out data protection checks at Europol. the Convention, the 2. The Joint Supervisory Body may appoint one or more members for carrying out these checks. Such members may be assisted by experts as deemed appropriate by the Joint Supervisory Body, drawn only from a list of experts established by the Joint Supervisory Body in advance and communicated to Europol. Experts on this list shall come from within national supervisory bodies and government agencies, unless such experts are not available. All experts must meet the security requirements applying under their national law. 3. Where the chairman deems a case to be urgent, he may appoint such members and experts by virtue of his office. In this case he shall inform the members of the Joint Supervisory Body without delay. The members of 4. the Joint Supervisory Body entrusted with carrying out a check shall report to the Joint Supervisory Body on the results of their work. Article 8 Procedure in the event of violations If the Joint Supervisory Body notes violations of the provisions of the Convention with regard to the storage, processing or utilisation of personal data, it shall inform the director of Europol accordingly and shall request him in writing to reply within a given C 149/8 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 period. If the Joint Supervisory Body considers the reply to be insufficient or not submitted in time, or if any other difficulty arises, the Joint Supervisory Body shall refer the matter in writing to the Management the Board Convention). Failure to comply with a final decision of the Appeals Committee shall be regarded as a violation of the Convention. sentence (Article 24(5), third of Article 9 Minutes Minutes shall be made of all meetings of the Joint Supervisory Body. The draft minutes shall be prepared by the Secretariat under the direction of the chairman and submitted to the Joint Supervisory Body for adoption at its next meeting. Each member shall have the right to have the draft minutes amended to reflect comments made by that member at the meeting. Article 10 Acitivity report 1. The Joint Supervisory Body shall draw up an activity report at least once every two years. At least one month before the activity report is forwarded to the Council, the Management Board shall have the opportunity to deliver an opinion, which shall be attached the Convention). (Article 24(6) of to the report The Joint Supervisory Body shall decide whether 2. or not to publish its activity report, and, if it decides to do so, determine how it should be published. TITLE III RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE APPEALS COMMITTEE Article 11 Tasks of the Appeals Committee be appointed for five years by the Joint Supervisory Body, on the nomination of the delegation concerned, which term shall be renewable. 1. The Appeals Committee (hereinafter called the Committee’) shall examine the appeals provided for in and Article 19(6), Article 22(3) of the Convention. and (8), Article 20(4) (7) The members of 2. the Committee and their alternates shall have the necessary qualifications for examining and deciding the appeals referred to in legal expertise, Article 11(1), experience in conflict resolution and experience in data protection matters. inter alia, involving, The Committee shall 2. respect of the matters referred to in paragraph 1. take final decisions in A member of the Committee who is unable to 3. attend a meeting may be represented by his alternate. In addition to the powers 3. referred to in Article 2(2), the Committee shall have the powers provided for in this chapter. 4. Membership of the Committee shall cease when the person concerned resigns or ceases to be a member of the Joint Supervisory Body. This shall apply also to the alternates. Article 12 Membership Article 13 Independence and impartiality The Committee 1. composed of one member of each delegation in the Joint Supervisory Body. Each member may have an alternate. The members of the Committee and their alternates shall shall be The members of 1. shall be independent and impartial, not bound by directions of the Committee 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/9 is office which incompatible with the Joint Supervisory Body or anyone else in the exercise of their duties and subject only to the law. They may not engage in any activity during their term their of the independence and impartiality as members of Committee or with the required availability for service on the Committee. Activities which are being carried out or have been carried out on behalf of the national supervisory as incompatible with work on the Committee. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply also to the alternates. regarded body shall not be 2. Where a member of the Committee or an alternate has been involved in the case in such a manner as to give rise to serious doubts as to his impartiality, or any other circumstance arises which the proper determination of an might prejudice appeal, he shall declare this and withdraw from the case. If a member or alternate is challenged by a party 3. on grounds relating to paragraphs 1 and 2, the Committee shall hear the person concerned and the other parties and subsequently decide on the challenge in the absence of the person concerned by means of a secret ballot. If a person withdraws or is excluded from the 4. case pursuant to paragraph 3, he shall be replaced by his alternate. Article 14 Chair 1. The Committee shall elect a chairman and a deputy chairman from among its members by a majority of two thirds of the votes cast in a secret ballot by the members attending the meeting. If none of the candidates achieves the required majority in the first round of voting, a second round shall take place between the two candidates having received most votes. The chairman or deputy chairman of the Joint Supervisory Body may not be elected chairman or deputy chairman of the Committee nor be a member of the same delegation. The chairman and his deputy shall be elected for a term of two years. Election for a second term of one year shall be possible. 2. The chairman shall preside over the meetings of the Committee. He shall monitor the smooth and proper functioning of its work. He shall convene the meetings of the Committee and determine the venue, date and time of such meetings. He shall prepare the provisional agenda. 3. The deputy chairman shall act for the chairman if he is unable to attend. In the absence of the deputy chairman the oldest member in terms of age shall act as deputy chairman. The the Committee shall be convened and chaired by the oldest member in terms of age until the election of the chairman. first meeting of In order from the to prepare its deliberations, chairman, one or the 4. Committee may appoint from among its members, on a proposal several rapporteurs. In such cases in principle, the member appointed as rapporteur shall be from the Member State from which the applicant comes or, the applicant comes from a non-Member State, from the Member State to which the case is most closely connected. an appointment may be made by the chairman by virtue of his office. In this case he shall inform the members of the Committee without delay. The rapporteur shall examine the appeal and submit a report to the Committee on its admissibility and a proposal for further proceedings, in particular with regard to what preparatory measures are needed. the matter urgent, such is If if Article 15 Representation The applicant may be assisted or represented by a lawyer or another adviser. A lawyer or an adviser may be excluded from the proceedings by the Committee in cases of serious misconduct. If a lawyer or an adviser is excluded, the chairman shall stipulate a deadline for the party concerned to enable him to appoint another lawyer or adviser; the proceedings shall be suspended until the expiration of this deadline. A lawyer or an adviser shall produce proper authorisation from the applicant, if so requested by the Committee. Article 16 Languages 1. The procedure shall be conducted in one of the official languages of the institutions of the European Union. The applicant shall choose the official language in which the procedure shall be conducted. The language of the procedure shall be used in the oral statements and in the written documentation of the parties and in the minutes and decisions of the Committee. 2. Documents procedural translation into the procedural than the language other language shall be accompanied by a language. Where in a C 149/10 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 documents are lengthy, the translation submitted may be restricted to excerpts or summaries. The Committee may by virtue of its office or on application from a party require a full translation at any time. the chairman or of the rapporteur. An appeal which does not comply with the time limits mentioned in paragraph 1 may be accepted, if special circumstances can justify the delay. 3. Where necessary, interpretation services and translations shall be provided for each member of the Committee and for the parties free of charge. The decisions of the Committee shall be translated into all official languages of the institutions of the European Union. Article 18 Preliminary consideration 4. In cases where none of the official languages of the institutions of the European Union is accessible to the applicant, the complaint may be lodged in another is obliged to submit a language. The applicant languages. The summary in one of chairman or shall have the complaint translated into the chosen language. the official rapporteur Article 17 Institution of the procedure the Secretariat of The appeal shall be lodged by submission of a 1. written complaint at the Joint Supervisory Body within three months of the decision of Europol being received by the applicant. When there is no decision, the appeal shall be lodged within three months after the expiration of the relevant time limits referred to in Article 19(6), Article 20(4) and Article 22(3) of the Convention. Any doubt about compliance with time limits shall be determined in favour of the applicant. 2. the The applicant shall outline the basis of complaint. It must be clear who is complaining, what he is complaining about and on what grounds. The complaint shall be accompanied by any supporting documentation available. The applicant may withdraw his appeal at any time. The Secretariat shall acknowledge the receipt of 3. the complaint within four weeks and give general information on the course of the procedure. If the complaint does not meet the requirements 4. set out in paragraph 2, first and second sentences and in Article 16(4), second sentence, the Secretariat shall invite the applicant to rectify any omissions within four weeks. Appeals which do not meet 5. the requirements shall be refused by the Committee on the proposal of If the complaint meets the requirements, it shall 1. be considered by the Committee on the basis of the following the taking Convention especially Articles 19, 20 and 22. provisions account into 2. A copy of the complaint shall be forwarded to Europol for its observations, which shall be submitted within four weeks, extension for two further weeks being possible. 3. The Committee may decide on a case-by-case basis additionally to involve in the appeals procedure one or more national units. The applicant and Europol shall be informed of this decision. The relevant national units shall be sent a copy of the observations from Europol and the applicant in order to enable to be them to submit submitted within four weeks, extension for two further weeks being possible. their own observations, After the observations have been received or the 4. deadlines have expired, the complaint shall be dealt with by the Committee within the ensuing three months. Article 19 Additional information 1. The Committee may ask the applicant, Europol, the national units, the national supervisory bodies or any other body to provide information, evidence or comments to the Committee. The parties are entitled to make suggestions to the Committee regarding the taking of evidence or to call for the admission of follow up these evidence. The Committee suggestions and calls for admission to the extent necessary for the examination of the case. shall 2. The Committee may also decide to investigate on location at Europol. Article 7 applies likewise. In this case, the applicant or his adviser shall be informed of the result of the investigation. 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/11 Article 20 Access to file of procedure 1. All parties shall, if they wish, have access to the file of the procedure, and require the Secretariat of the Joint Supervisory Body to provide them with excerpts or photocopies at their own expense. Access shall be refused where such refusal is necessary in order: — to enable Europol to fulfil its duties properly, — to protect security and public order in the Member States or to prevent crime, — to protect the rights and freedoms of third parties, considerations which cannot be overridden by the interests of the person concerned. that the Committee Europol, national units and national supervisory 2. bodies may indicate to what extent the information they provide should not be made available to the applicant, stating the reasons for such a restriction. The Committee may ask for further reasons. To the extent such reasons finds acceptable, information concerned shall be withheld. The Committee may decide otherwise only in the absence of acceptable reasons and only unanimously. In this case, the Committee may require a summary to be made available to the applicant or require that certain information shall be provided to the applicant. the Article 21 Hearing 1. The parties shall be heard by the Committee should they so request. The Committee shall duly inform the parties of their right to be heard. This right shall be exercised in writing. The Committee shall decide to hold an oral hearing on request from one of the parties involved in the proceeding to the extent deemed necessary for the examination of the case. The Committee shall duly inform the parties of their right to request an oral hearing. All parties shall be notified in due time of the oral hearing and have the right to be present. 2. Committee decides by virtue of An oral hearing shall be held in public unless the its office or on strictly necessary in the opinion of application from one of the parties to exclude the public wholly or partly where the interests of public security, especially on the grounds referred to in Article 19(3) of the Convention, or the protection of the privacy of an individual so require, or to the extent the Committee in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the proper determination of the appeal. If a Member State that is a party to the proceedings, or Europol, requests that the public be excluded from the proceedings, the Committee may decide otherwise only on the grounds that no reasons as referred to in the first sentence obtain, and only unanimously. 3. The Committee may decide, at the request of a party or at its own initiative, to hear a party without other parties being present, where this is required in order to ensure the proper functioning of Europol, to safeguard the security of a Member State or to protect the interests of the applicant or a third party. The absent parties shall be informed of proceedings taking place in their absence. Article 22 Hearing of witnesses and experts 1. The Committee may decide, at the request of a party or at its own initiative, to hear witnesses. All parties and the witnesses concerned shall be notified in due course of the hearing. Article 21(2) and (3) shall also apply. 2. Witnesses notified by the Committee shall be entitled to reimbursement of and accommodation expenses and to compensation for loss of earnings, the Committee finds equitable. They may receive the necessary advance payments. All payments shall be made from the budget of the Joint Supervisory Body. to the extent travel their 3. The witnesses shall be heard by the Committee. The members of the Committee may address questions to the witnesses. With the permission of the chairman, the parties may address questions to the witnesses. Before the hearing begins, the chairman shall remind the witnesses that they should speak the truth. The Committee may appoint an expert and 4. define his mandate. The entitled to remuneration for his work. The Committee may decide to hear the expert. The rules regarding the hearing of witnesses shall also apply. expert is C 149/12 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 Article 23 Closing statements for the decision. It shall be announced at a public meeting and conveyed to the parties. A copy of the decision shall be forwarded to the Joint Supervisory Body. Before reaching a final decision, the Committee shall invite all parties to submit final comments. Article 26 Notifications Article 24 Minutes Notifications and other communications to parties, witnesses and experts shall be made by means that reasonably ensure that they are duly informed and can be verified when necessary. The Committee shall keep minutes of its 1. proceedings which shall reflect the course of each hearing and the statements made in it. The parties may request that certain documents or statements be included wholly or partly in the minutes. The minutes shall be signed by the chairman, forwarded to the parties and added to the file of the case. In cases referred to in Article 21(2) or Article 22(1), the Committee shall impose restrictions. Article 9 shall also apply to all meetings of the 2. Committee which are not attended by the parties. Article 25 Decisions and confidentiality Any meeting of the Committee shall only be their the members or fifths of 1. effective if four alternates attend. 2. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the members or alternates attending the meeting, unless provided otherwise either in these rules or in the Convention. In case of a tied vote, the chairman shall have a casting vote. All persons taking part in the final decision must have attended an oral hearing. The deliberations of the Committee shall remain 3. confidential. 4. The final decision of the Committee shall contain the names of the parties and their representatives, the names of the members of the Committee taking part in the decision, the date on which the decision is announced, the operative part of the decision, a brief presentation of the facts of the case and the reasons Article 27 Costs The Committee shall decide on the costs of the 1. procedure in its final decision. The procedure before the Committee shall be free of charge. If the appeal is upheld, wholly or partially, the necessary costs incurred by the applicant for lodging and processing the complaint shall be borne by Europol to the extent that the Committee considers this equitable. at shall assistance If an applicant is unable to bear all or part of the 2. costs of the procedure, he may at any time on request be granted assistance for the costs. When he submits the application, he enclose documentation demonstrating that he is in need. The Committee may the withdraw the preconditions under which it was granted change in the is the proceedings. approved, the costs will be disbursed from the budget of the Joint Supervisory Body. Where this is fair, the final decision may require a party to reimburse to the budget of the Joint Supervisory Body the advance payments granted. In submitting his application, the applicant shall declare his agreement to reimburse the costs if required by the final decision. If assistance course of time any if Article 28 Due process In cases not provided for in these rules, the Committee shall conduct its procedures in accordance with the general principles of Community law referred to in Article F(2) of the Treaty on European Union. 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/13 TITLE IV FINAL PROVISIONS Article 29 Secretariat The Joint shall have 1. a Supervisory Body Secretariat based at its headquarters to assist it in the performance of its tasks. The Secretariat shall be a permanent body and its members recruited only on the basis of competence. The members of the Secretariat the Joint shall act solely in the best Supervisory Body, shall be fully independent from Europol and shall not accept instructions from any other authority. Recruitment or secondment to the Secretariat shall take place on a proposal from the Joint the Secretariat shall not undertake other work without permission of the chairman of the Joint Supervisory Body. Staff members of Supervisory Body. interests of The Secretariat shall operate under the direction 2. of the chairman of the Joint Supervisory Body in accordance with the rules established by the Joint Supervisory Body. The Secretariat shall also provide services to the Appeals Committee. In the performance of these functions it shall operate under the direction of the chairman of that Committee. The Secretariat shall keep a register of appeals and all other documents. The Secretariat shall ensure that the obligations the Convention shall also be 3. under Article 32 of respected in the work of the Joint Supervisory Body. Article 30 Confidentiality the Joint Supervisory Body, 1. Members of alternates, experts and members of the Secretariat shall be obliged to treat in a confidential manner the circumstances which come to their knowledge in the context of their activity, unless the proper discharge of their task requires otherwise. This obligation shall continue to apply also when they cease to be active in that capacity. appointment, members Joint 2. On Supervisory Body, alternates, experts and members of the Secretariat shall declare their acceptance of these obligations. the of 3. In the case of a breach of confidentiality, a member of the Joint Supervisory Body or his alternate may be suspended by a majority of two thirds of the in a secret ballot by the delegations votes cast attending a meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body. The person concerned shall be heard before, but shall not take part in the decision. This provision shall apply equally to the Appeals Committee, where the breach that of Committee. In the latter case, the Joint Supervisory Body shall be informed without delay. to the work of confidentiality relates In the case of a suspension, the place of the suspended member shall be taken by his alternate. A suspension shall be communicated to the national supervisory body responsible for the appointment of the suspended member. Article 31 Budget and costs 1. The Secretariat shall prepare proposals for an annual budget for the Joint Supervisory Body, which on approval shall be forwarded to the Management Board in Article 24(9) of the Convention. consultation, required prior the to 2. The Joint Supervisory Body shall decide on the disbursement of the budget allocated to it which shall be administered by the Secretariat. The costs of the Joint Supervisory Body and the 3. including the expenses for the Appeals Committee, and their members of alternates, which are necessary for the proper exercise of their duties, shall be borne by the budget of the Joint Supervisory Body in accordance with rules established by it. the Appeals Committee C 149/14 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 1999 Article 32 Article 34 Amendment of the Rules of Procedure Entry into force of the Rules of Procedure Amendments to these Rules of Procedure shall be unanimously adopted by the Joint Supervisory Body and shall be submitted to the Council for unanimous approval the Convention). sentence (Article 24(7), first of These Rules of Procedure shall enter into force on the day following their approval by the Council in accordance with Article 24(7) of the Convention (*). Article 33 Evaluation Done at Brussels, 22 April 1999 These Rules of Procedure shall be evaluated by the Joint Supervisory Body between one and three years after their entry into force. For the Joint Supervisory Body The Chairman Fergus GLAVEY (*) The Rules of Procedure were approved by the Council on 29 April 1999. 28. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 149/15 COUNCIL DECLARATION on Article 4(5) and Article 12(4) adopted when approving the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Supervisory Body of Europol The Member States agreed that membership of the Joint Supervisory Body (of a member or an alternate) in particular may not cease before the end of the term of office on grounds connected with the exercise of a function in the Appeals Committee