Supplementary Reply to Recommendation 1181 (1992) on police co-operation and protection of personal data in the police sector

15 February 1995

Doc. 7254

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Supplementary Reply to Recommendation 1181 (1992) on police co-operation and protection of personal data in the police sector

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 February 1995 at the 528th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

1. The Committee of Ministers refers to its previous replies to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1181 (1992) on police co-operation and protection of personal data in the police sector, adopted in June 1992 and January 1993 respectively. It wishes to remind the Parliamentary Assembly that, as indicated in its reply in January 1993, it instructed the Project Group on Data Protection (CJ-PD) to evaluate the relevance of Recommendation No. R (87) 15 regulating the use of personal data in the police sector, and in particular the need to revise the text, namely its scope and principle 5.4 (international communication).

2. The CJ-PD reached a number of conclusions which have been endorsed by the Committee of Ministers. The latter is therefore in a position to inform the Assembly that, in its opinion, Recommendation No. R (87) 15 gives adequate protection for personal data used for police purposes and that, at this stage, there is no need to revise it, or parts of it. Principle 5.4 of Recommendation No. R (87) 15, especially when read together with paragraphs 56 to 80 of its Explanatory Memorandum, appears flexible enough to meet the present and foreseeable requirements of international agreements on the exchange of data for police purposes.

3. However, bearing in mind inter alia the implementation of new systems for the sharing of personal data used in the police sector, such as EUROPOL, the rapid development of new technologies and the concerns expressed by the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers considers that the relevance of Recommendation No. R (87) 15 should be reviewed on a regular basis. It has therefore decided that the next review will be carried out in December 1998 and thereafter on a four-yearly

basis.