AGREEMENT between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania on Co-operation in Combating Terrorism, Organized Crime, Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors

The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania (hereinafter referred to as "the Parties"),

guided by the endeavor to contribute to the development of their bilateral co-operation;

convinced of the substantial importance of the co-operation in combating crime, especially terrorism, organized crime and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

aiming to increase their joint efforts for combating terrorism;

desiring to harmonize their actions against internationally organized crime;

taking into consideration the relevant international treaties;

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

1. Taking into consideration the national legislation of the Parties and pursuant to the provisions of the present Agreement, the Parties shall co-operate in combating terrorism, organized crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

2. The Parties shall co-operate especially in cases wherein crimes or their preparations are carried out in the territory of the state of one of the Parties, and information obtained refers to the territory of the state of the other Party.

Article 2

For combating terrorism, the Parties:

1) shall exchange information on the planned or committed acts of terrorism, those who participate in such crimes, the methods of commission and the devices used;

2) shall exchange information on terrorist groups and the members of these groups planning, committing or having committed crimes in the territory of the state of one of the Parties and to the disadvantage of either Party, as well as information which is necessary for combating terrorism and crimes seriously threatening the public safety;

3) shall exchange analytic and other materials related to terrorism;

4) shall exchange experience and knowledge in the field of ensuring security;

5) in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties, upon the request of one of the Parties, the other Party or both Parties jointly shall carry out operational and other measures.

Article 3

For combating illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, the Parties:

1) shall inform each other on persons involved in the illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors; on hiding places, means of transport and methods of commission; on the place of origin and destination of the narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, as well as of any other relevant details of such crimes, in so far as they are necessary for combating these crimes;

2) shall inform each other on the methods of illicit international trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, and of other relevant facts;

3) shall exchange the results of criminalistic and criminological research on illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

4) shall put at each other’s disposal samples of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, if necessary;

5) shall exchange experience in controlling the legal trade of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;

6) in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties, upon the request of one of the Parties, they jointly shall carry out operational and other measures.

Article 4

For combating crimes, especially organized crime, the Parties:

1) shall inform each other on persons involved in organized crime, their connections, the structure of criminal organizations and groups, the facts of the cases (especially the time, location and method of commission), the attacked facilities, the measures taken, as well as any other relevant details, in so far as they are necessary for combating such crimes;

2) shall exchange information and experience on methods of commission and new forms of transnational organized crime;

3) shall exchange the results of criminalistic and criminological research, the experience on investigation techniques and application of the working methods and equipment;

4) shall, upon request, put at each other’s disposal information on and samples of objects resulting from criminal acts or used for committing crimes;

5) shall exchange experts for joint or mutual training in order to obtain a higher level expertise and to study mutually the newest achievements in investigation techniques, equipment and methods used in combating crime;

6) in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties, upon the request of one of the Parties, the other Party or both Parties jointly shall carry out operational and other measures.

  Article 5

1.  In order to implement the provisions of the present Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties, on the part of the Republic of Latvia:

the Ministry of the Interior, the State Police, the Security Police, the State Border Guard, the State Revenue Service;

and on the part of the Republic of Albania:

the Ministry of the Interior, the General Directory of the State Police, the General Directory of the Customs and the Ministry of Finance

shall, within the scope of their powers and competence, co-operate with each other directly.

2. The competent authorities of the Parties may specify the definite fields of co-operation and the forms of communication in separate Protocols.

3. The Parties shall notify each other through diplomatic channels on the contact information of the competent authorities and the jurisdiction of their competence necessary for mutual communication.

4.  The Parties shall promptly notify each other through diplomatic channels of any changes in the list of the competent authorities of the Parties referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

5.  In the absence of other agreement, the English language shall be used in communication and exchange of information between the competent authorities of the Parties.

Article 6

1. Co-operation between the competent authorities of the Parties shall be on a request basis. Requests shall be forwarded to the competent authorities of the Parties within the scope of their competences.

2. Requests for co-operation shall be made officially in writing and delivered through safe technical means. Requests for co-operation shall sign the head of the competent authority or its deputy, or other their authorized persons and certify by the seal of the competent authority.

3. Requests for co-operation shall bear the name of the requesting competent authority, the subject of the request, justification as well as additional information on the personal data containing in the request. Requests for co-operation may be accompanied by other documents pertaining to the subject matter of the request.

4. Where a competent authority of one Party is unable to respond to a request, it shall forward the request to another competent authority of that Party and inform the requesting competent authority thereabout.

Article 7

Taking into consideration the national legislation of the Parties for the protection of personal data transmitted in the course of the co-operation, the following conditions shall apply:

1) the receiving Party may use the data solely for the purpose and under the conditions determined by the transmitting Party;

2) upon the request of the transmitting Party, the receiving Party shall give information on the utilization of the data transmitted and the results thus achieved;

3) personal data may be forwarded solely to the competent authorities of the Parties referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Agreement combating terrorism, organized crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors. Data may be forwarded to other authorities only upon prior written permission of the transmitting Party;

4) the transmitting Party shall undertake to ensure that the transmitted data are correct and shall ascertain whether the transmission is necessary and corresponds to the intended purpose. In case it is subsequently ascertained that incorrect or unauthorised data have been transmitted, the receiving Party must be informed immediately. The receiving Party shall correct the errors or, in case the data should not have been transmitted, destroy them;

5) the person, whose personal data have been submitted, at his request and in accordance with the national legislation of the relevant Contracting Party, must be given information on the data and their intended use; in the interests of national security and public order, such information may be refused;

6) when transmitting the data, the transmitting Party shall inform the receiving Party of the deadline for the deletion thereof in accordance with the national legislation of the transmitting Party. Regardless of the deadline, the data relating to the person concerned must be deleted as soon as they cease to be needed. The transmitting Party must be informed about the deletion of the transmitted data and about the reasons for the deletion. In the event of termination of the present Agreement, all data received on its basis must be destroyed;

7) the Parties shall keep a record of the transmission, receipt and deletion of data in the data base specially established for this purpose;

8) the Parties shall protect effectively the personal data transmitted against unauthorized access, change and publication.

Article 8

1. The Parties shall protect the secrecy of information classified as such by any of the Parties in accordance with the national legislation of the Parties in so far as this is required on the basis of the national legislation of the transmitting Party.

2. Documents, data and technical equipment transmitted pursuant to the present Agreement shall be forwarded to a non-Party of the present Agreement only upon prior written permission of the transmitting Party.

Article 9

1. In order to promote and evaluate the co-operation pursuant to the present Agreement, the competent authorities of the Parties may set up a Joint Commission. The Parties shall notify each other of their members designated to the Joint Commission through the diplomatic channels.

2. The Joint Commission shall hold meetings at the initiative of either Party. The Joint Commission shall hold its meetings alternately in the Republic of Latvia and in the Republic of Albania.

  Article 10

Either Party may reject in whole or in part or may condition to comply with the request for assistance or co-operation in case it execution would threaten its national sovereignty, endanger its security, public order, other basic interests or violate its national legislation.

  Article 11

The provisions of the present Agreement do not affect the implementation of the provisions of other bilateral or multilateral international treaties concluded by the Republic of Latvia or the Republic of Albania.

Article 12

The competent authorities shall bear all ordinary costs incurred by them in complying with a request, but the payment of any extraordinary costs shall be agreed separately by the competent authorities of the Parties concerned.

Article 13

1. Any dispute concerning the interpretation and application of this Agreement shall be settled by way of direct negotiations or consultations between the competent authorities of the Parties within the scope of their competence.

2. Should no agreement be reached by way of disputes settlement as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the dispute shall be settled through diplomatic channels.

  Article 14

The Parties may make amendments and supplements to the present Agreement in the form of protocols, which become an integral part of the present Agreement. The amendments and supplements to the present Agreement shall enter into force in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 15 of the present Agreement.

Article 15

1. The present Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time and shall enter into force on the day of the receipt of the last written notification through diplomatic channels by which the Parties notify each other of the completion of the internal procedures necessary for the present Agreement to enter into force.

2. Each Party may terminate the present Agreement at any time by giving the other Party a written notice of its intention through diplomatic channels. Such termination shall take effect on the ninetieth day following the date of receipt of such notice.

Done at Tirana on 16 December 2009 in two originals, each in the Latvian, Albanian and English language, all texts being equally authentic. In case of differences in the interpretation, the English text shall prevail.