On cooperation in combating crime

05.11.2013

Agreement

between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Kingdom of Spain

The Republic of Uzbekistan and the Kingdom of Spain, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties",

aware that international crime poses a serious threat to the development and security of their states,

taking into account the importance of deepening and developing cooperation to combat crime, especially in its organized forms,

paying the great attention to international cooperation in combating crime, and expressing a desire to provide the widest possible and effective mutual assistance in this field, in due compliance with universally recognized human rights and freedoms,

guided by the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual assistance,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1 Scope

1. The Parties in accordance with national laws of their states and with provisions of this Agreement shall cooperate in combating crime, especially in its organized forms through their competent authorities.

2. The competent authorities of the Parties shall mutually cooperate within the framework of this Agreement directly.

Article 2 Fields of cooperation

1. The Parties shall cooperate in combating the following crimes:

a) terrorism, its support and financing;

b) criminal offences against life and health;

c) human trafficking, trafficking with human organs and tissues and illegal migration;

d) illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

e) illegal traffic and illegal trade in weapons, ammunition, explosives, as well as other generally dangerous substances and dual-use items and technologies;

f) theft, illegal traffic and illegal trade of radioactive substances, biological and nuclear material. Inappropriate use or threat of inappropriate using of any these;

g) illegal financial transactions, economic and tax offences, as well as legalization of proceeds from criminal activities;

h) corruption in the public service;

i) forgery (printing or alteration) of currency, securities, cheques and other means of payment, identity cards and travel documents as well as their illegal use;

j) crimes against sexual freedom, particularly of minors. Production, diffusion, provision of sexually explicit depictions of a minor, as well as any activities relating to material constituting or containing child pornography;

k) criminal offences against property, and particularly, thefts of and unlawful trafficking in cultural assets of historical value and works of art;

1) theft, illegal trade and traffic in motor vehicles, the falsification and use of falsified documents, as well as any other illegal operations thereof;

m) criminal offences in the sphere of information technologies;

n) illicit trafficking of items related to the cultural and historical treasures, works of art, precious stones and metals, intellectual property, and any other valuables.

Article 3 Forms of cooperation

1. The Parties shall cooperate in the following forms:

a) exchange of information, which can help to detect and prevent crimes, and to solve any other matters in accordance with Article 2 of this Agreement;

b) assisting in the detection of crimes mentioned in Article 2 of this Agreement by inspecting the activity of persons, organizations, institutions and companies, goods and documents;

c) assisting in the identification of persons and corpses;

d) cooperation in controlled delivery of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

e) exchange of experience and specialized staff through the organization of seminars, courses and consultations;

f) providing technical and scientific aid, as well as exchange of information on specialized operative equipment;

g) the adoption of the necessary legal, administrative and security measures on improvement border and customs controls in order to prevent smuggling, particularly of drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

2. By mutual agreement, the Parties may co-operate under this Agreement in any other area provided that is compatible with the purposes of this Agreement.

3. In all cases, co-operation under this Agreement shall not include the issues of providing legal and judicial assistance in criminal matters and extradition or transfer of offenders subject to the European arrest warrant.

4. The volume and specific forms of cooperation may be defined by mutual agreement of the competent authorities subject to needs and conditions, as well as other circumstances.

Article 4 Exchange of information on serious crimes

The exchange of information mentioned in paragraph 1 (a) of Article 3 of this Agreement shall be referred to crimes described below:

a) crimes which are being prepared or committed by organized criminal groups on the territory of one Party, if nationals of the other Party are involved in such activities;

b) illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

c) legalization of proceeds from criminal activities if this activity is being committed in the territory of one Party.

Article 5 Exchange of information on criminal activity

The Parties shall exchange information on the following:

a) techniques and methods of committing crimes by organizations or criminal groups, their composition, structure, scope of activity and criminal contacts;

b) concealing methods of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, as well as the detection systems of routes used in these activities, new tendencies in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

c) structure, composition, methods of use of technology, and financing of terrorist groups;

d) nationals of Parties, residing temporarily or permanently in the territory of the state of the other Party suspected of being involved in the commission of criminal offences specified in Article 2 of this Agreement.

Article 6 Terms of cooperation

1. Exchange of information and requests for the carrying out of events prescribed in this Agreement shall be submitted in writing directly to the competent authorities, through diplomatic channels or the National Bureau of Interpol. Request shall be signed by respective official and sealed with the official seal of the requesting competent authority. In urgent cases, the competent authority may provide advanced information orally or through any secured means of telecommunications and confirm the formalities in writing immediately thereafter.

2. Any request of information according to this Agreement must contain a brief description and the reasons that justify the request.

3. Request of assistance mentioned in this Article shall be made in accordance with the national law of the requested Party, as well as with the procedures specified in the request, provided that they are consistent with laws of that State. If fulfillment of actions set forth in the request is not within the competence of the authority that received the request, then that authority must forward the request to the competent authority of its state and inform the requesting Party about this circumstance.

4. The competent authorities without prejudice to their investigation may forward corresponding information under this Agreement on their own initiative and irrespective of the demand of request when it is considered to be of interest of the other Party.

5. The fulfillment of the request shall be implemented within possible short time limit. If necessary, the competent authorities of the Parties may request extra information in order to facilitate the implementation of the request.

Article 7 Refusal of the request of assistance

1. Request of assistance may be refused partially or wholly, if the implementation:

a) may violate human rights, damage sovereignty or national security;

b) conflicts with the public interest or the national legislation of the requested Party;

c) may cause damage to investigations and procedures carried out in the territory of the requested Party;

d) conflicts with a court decision or the execution of a court sentence of the requested Party.

2. When the request of assistance is refused, the competent authorities of the requested Party shall inform in writing the requesting Party about reasons for refusing to fulfill the request.

Article 8 Other forms of cooperation and personnel training

1. The Parties shall also cooperate, in accordance with their legal and administrative systems, to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement measures for the suppression of the crimes foreseen in Article 2 of this Agreement.

2. The Parties shall entrust their competent authorities to conclude international agreements that include the following:

a) establishing and maintaining contacts among them, reliable information exchange concerning all aspects of crimes and solution of other tasks, foreseen in Article 2 of this Agreement;

b) other actions meant for the suppression of such crimes, especially illicit trafficking in drugs if these actions are consistent with laws of the Parties.

3. The Parties shall assist each other in the implementation of research programs in the fields of science and technology in order to combat crime and to cooperate for mutual benefit in the field of training for law enforcement personnel.

Article 9 Use of information

1. The Parties have agreed that their competent authorities shall ensure the confidentiality of information acquired by each other, if mentioned information is classified as confidential or the Party, provided information, finds undesirable to make it public.

2. In case of necessity to provide information on technical devices, equipments and materials acquired within the framework of this Agreement to a third party, a written approval of the providing competent authority shall be required.

3. The processing of personal data transmitted in the framework of the implementation of this Agreement shall be subject to the following provisions:

a) in case of necessity, the data providing Party shall ensure the authenticity of information as well as the timely reporting of possible amendments or additions. The acquisition, registration, keeping and destruction of the information on natural persons shall be carried out in accordance with laws of the Parties. In case of termination of this Agreement all information received before must be deleted;

b) the transmission and receipt of personal data shall be registered and will be subject to effective data protection against access by unauthorized persons and their alteration, destruction or disclosure;

c) upon request, the receiving Party shall inform transmitting Party about the use of the data and results obtained on the basis of the transmitted data.

Article 10 Agreement between the central authorities

In order to implement this Agreement concerned central competent authorities of the Parties may enter into interagency agreements.

Article 11 Expenditures and commitments

1. Expenditures emanating from the implementation of this Agreement shall be borne independently within the limits necessary for fulfillment of their commitments.

2. If necessary, the Parties shall bear joint expenditures arising from implementation of this Agreement that shall be made through separate mutual arrangements. Commitments of the Parties on joint expenditures shall be governed by these arrangements.

3. The Parties, when necessary in the context of struggle against crimes as specified in Article 2 of this Agreement, may provide equipment and materials required for resolving concrete issues to each other free of charge.

Article 12 Authorities

1. The authorities responsible for the practical implementation of this Agreement shall be:

For the Republic of Uzbekistan: Ministry of the Internal Affairs, National Security Service, General Prosecutorʼs Office, State Customs Committee, Ministry of Justice and State Taxation Committee;

For the Kingdom of Spain: Ministry of Interior, without prejudice to the competences corresponding to other Ministries.

2. Each Party shall inform the other, through the diplomatic channels, on any changes regarding competent authorities.

Article 13 The language of cooperation

The cooperation within the framework of this Agreement shall be carried out in English language.

Article 14 The Joint Committee

1. In order to implement the provisions of this Agreement, the Parties may establish a Joint Committee of the authorized representatives of the Parties.

2. In case of necessity the Joint Committee may alternately meet in the Republic of Uzbekistan and in the Kingdom of Spain for considering mutually beneficial matters and to take mutually accepted decisions.

Article 15 Settlement of disputes

Disputes arising from interpretation or implementation of this Agreement shall be settled by means of consultations and negotiations between the Parties.

Article 16 Relation to other treaties

The provisions of this Agreement shall not affect the rights and duties of the Parties under other international treaties to which they are Parties to.

Article 17 Amendments

This Agreement may be amended and supplemented by mutual consent of the Parties through separate protocols being an integral part of this Agreement. These amendments shall enter into force in accordance with Article 18 of this Agreement.

Article 18 Entry into force, duration and termination

1. This Agreement shall enter into force from the date of receipt of the last written notification by Parties on completion of domestic procedures, required for its entry into force.

2. This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and shall remain valid as long as one of the Parties notifies through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate this Agreement. In this case, the Agreement shall be terminated after six months following the date of receipt by the other Party of the notification of denunciation.

Done at Madrid on November 5, 2013, in two originals in Uzbek, Spanish and English languages, and all texts being equally authentic.

(signature)