IT IS A DISTINCTIVE CHANNEL OF DIRECT POLICE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE ROMANIAN AND BRITISH LAW ENFORCEMENT/ JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES

CONTACT:

Police & Home Affairs Attaché Office
Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom

Arundel House, 4 Palace Green, London W8 4QD

: +44 (0) 20 7376 0639
Fax:  +44 (0) 20 7937 8069

londra.mai1@mae.ro
londra.mai2@mae.ro
www.mai.gov.ro
http://londra.mae.ro

• Their main task is supporting the processes of police and judicial assistance by facilitating inquires, intelligence exchange, operational assistance, participation in police operations, and gathering of evidence (based on letters of request)
• Checks are usually performed within a 48h timeframe, however if the request is urgent the results could be returned in a matter of hours or even minutes; (see RESOURCES section: Checks available in Romania);
Equally, Romanian law enforcement can request intelligence checks to be carried out in the UK systems and the results forwarded to Romania;
• The Police and Home Affairs Attachés can assist in the preparation of an operation. They are also able to attend, as observers, during the operation/search. This has a number of benefits for UK law enforcement, swift identification of the offenders and victims, on the spot checks of the documents provided, translation, immediate liaison with Romanian law enforcement.
• The Police and Home Affairs Attachés can also assist with the identification of foreign offenders and expediting the procedures in cases of fugitives wanted by the Romanian authorities;
• They can also provide assistance in the initial stages of Joint Investigation Teams, by gauging the interest and the availability in the other jurisdiction;

With regards to the VICTIMS OF MODERN SLAVERY, the Police and Home Affairs Attachés can assist with:
• Ensuring contact /liaison with the RO authorities including ANITP;
• Establishing the whereabouts of repatriated victims and re-establishing contact on behalf of the UK authorities.
• Assisting with the repatriation process by facilitating travel details, and making the necessary arrangements in Romania to receive the victim and ensuring a continuum of activities in both countries;
• Assisting with the risk assessment and requesting immediate action in RO to protect victim/relatives;
• Assisting the actual police operation (checks prior and during the actual operation, also assisting in debriefing/interviews etc.);
• Assisting with the secondment of Romanian police officers on medium/long term projects but also for ongoing operations;

Every police force in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has an International Liaison Officer (ILO) who acts as a central point of contact for all incoming and outgoing international enquiries for the force area.

In most forces the ILO will be located in the Force Intelligence Unit (FIU) or equivalent HQ Department and be available during normal office hours only. They can provide advice and guidance for any international enquiries that an investigator may consider necessary. However, investigators should be mindful that the capacity of the role will vary between forces.

ACCESS TO SIENA IS AVAILABLE TO THE POLICE THROUGH THE FORCE LIAISON OFFICERS AND NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY.

SIENA – supports the exchange of operational and strategic crime related information between Member States, Europol and Third Parties;
• The Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) is a state-of-the-art tool designed to enable swift, secure and user-friendly communication and exchange of operational and strategic crime-related information and intelligence between Europol, Member States and third parties that have cooperation agreements with Europol. It has a strong focus on interoperability with other systems at Europol and other cooperating states and organisations.
• SIENA is the main conduit for all operational information passing to and through Europol. The UK exchanged 26% more messages on SIENA in 2015 than in 2014; and initiated 22% more cases on it over the same period.

SIS II ALERTS ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE POLICE THROUGH THE POLICE NATIONAL COMPUTER (PNC) AND TO BORDER FORCE OFFICERS AT THE IMMIGRATION CONTROLS AT THE UK PORTS OF ENTRY.

• The Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) is a database of ‘real time’ alerts about individuals and objects of interest to EU law enforcement agencies. SIS II contains information on 35,000 people wanted under an EAW, as well as alerts on suspected foreign fighters, missing people, and alerts on people and objects of interest to EU law enforcement agencies
• The UK connected to SIS II in April 2015. Between then and 31 March 2016 over 6,400 foreign alerts received hits in the UK, allowing UK enforcement agencies to take appropriate action, whilst over 6,600 UK-issued alerts received hits across Europe.
• There are almost 70,000 alerts in SIS II for ‘discreet or specific checks’ on people across the EU – this includes alerts which support law enforcement tracking the movement around Europe of people convicted or suspected of serious and organised crime,including people convicted of sexual or violent offences
• SISII enables participating countries to share and receive law enforcement alerts in real time for:
– Persons wanted for arrest for extradition purposes, for which a warrant has been issued (Article 26);
– Missing persons who need to be placed under police protection or in a place of safety, including minors and adults not at risk (Article 32);
– Witnesses, absconders, or subjects of criminal judgements to appear before the judicial authorities (Article 34);
– People or vehicles requiring specific checks or discreet surveillance (Article 36);
– Objects that are misappropriated, lost, stolen and which may be sought for the purposes of seizure or for use as evidence (e.g. firearms, passports etc) (Article 38).
• SIRENE Bureaux are set up in all SISII participating countries, to provide supplementary information on alerts and coordinate activities in relation to alerts in SISII. In the UK’s case this will be managed by the National Crime Agency. SIRENE stands for Supplementary Information Request at the National Entry.

SIRENE Bureaux in SISII countries use different forms to communicate with each other. Officers complete these forms via the PNC. The following forms are most relevant to UK :
– A Form (Supplementary information) – includes supplementary information that needs to be supplied with an Article 26 alert (offence details and other information from the warrant).
– F Form (Flagging) – used to request a flag (see flagging).
– G Form (Hit on an alert) – includes all the relevant information required following a hit on an alert.
– H Form (Unable to carry out action) – includes all the relevant information required to inform another member state that the alert was matched in this country but the action was not able to be carried out.
– M Form (Miscellaneous information) – used to send information not covered by any other form. This form can also be used to request that an alert is geographically targeted.
– P Form (Further information required following vehicle recovery) – deals with the exchange of owner/keeper and insurance details following the recovery of a stolen vehicle.
– Q Form (Misused identity) – used to circulate information to the SIRENE Bureau that a person is the victim of misused identity.

NCA LIAISON OFFICERS ARE LOCATED IN KEY LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING IN BUCHAREST TO HELP SUPPORT THE INVESTIGATION OF SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME WHICH CROSSES INTERNATIONAL BORDERS.

• The force ILO can contact NCA international to obtain advice on how to contact NCA liaison officers;
• The role of the NCA Liaison officers is to generate and develop relationships with overseas law enforcement agencies in the state in which they are based. They are tasked by the NCA intervention planning teams to help with post-arrest plans. In certain circumstances, they may also be willing to assist with the transfer of police-to-police requests by providing local advice, establishing an appropriate point of contact and facilitating cooperation.

Their main responsibilities include:
• collecting and reporting intelligence from overseas sources for the knowledge requirements of NCA;
• planning and executing intervention activity overseas in support of NCA’s tasked operations;
• supporting the business interests of other relevant NCA departments including enforcement, covert human intelligence source, proceeds of crime, and technical collection, within an overall programme that balances these interests with the primary goals of collecting knowledge and supporting tasked operations;
• operating a management and control system set out by the intervention planning teams in England, Wales or Northern Ireland;
• developing and sustaining an effective operational capability overseas.

WHEN?
Where a non-UK national is subject to criminal proceedings in the UK (as a suspect, defendant, victim or witness) a request can be made via ACRO to countries within the European Union in order to obtain previous convictions, or indeed to ascertain the absence of a police record.

The UKCA-ECR will make contact with the subject’s country of nationality within the EU. This process can also be applied to British nationals, where there is suspicion of a possible offending career outside the UK in an EU Member State.

ACRO supports the UK law enforcement by:
• Submitting requests to obtain extracts from EU criminal registers for a person who is being investigated, arrested or managed by UK police forces and authorised agencies. Similar requests can also be made for victims and witnesses;
• Receiving notifications of convictions handed down against UK nationals in other EU member states and updating UK registers, including the PNC, with such convictions;
• Notifying relevant member states of any convictions (and updates to previous convictions) imposed in the UK on a national from that EU member state;

SPECIFICS TO REQUESTS SENT VIA ACRO TO ROMANIA:
When making a request to the UKCA-ECR, you will need to provide at least the name/surname and date of birth of the Romanian national. The following details could also be helpful for a quick identification: Romanian CNP (Personal Numerical Code)identification numbers (Passport, ID Card details, town/ district of birth, parents’ names, non-UK residencies.

A Romanian criminal record certificate will contain the following information:
• Full name;
• Personal Numerical Code (CNP);
• Date of birth;
• Place of birth;
• Most recent address; and
• Details of convictions (if any). If there are no convictions, the certificate will state: “The applicant is not recorded in the criminal record database”.

The Romanian criminal record contains the actual offence/s committed and the applicable provisions of the Romanian Criminal Code but it does not include any information with regards to the modus operandi or other circumstances of the criminal activities. Requesting this information from the Romanian authorities could be done via the channels of police / judicial cooperation and requires obtaining a copy of the actual court decision.

Convictions are removed from the Romanian register when:
• The offences committed are no longer provided by law;
• Court or legal rehabilitation has taken place;
• An amnesty has been granted;
• 20 years have passed since a sentence to a fine, penalty or a custodial penalty of a maximum of 3 years;
• The criminal proceedings have ceased or the individual has been acquitted; and
• Carrying out the educational measure of freedom under surveillance, of internment in a re-education centre or in a medical-educational institute and 1 year has passed since the educational measure of censure was carried out.

CONTACT:

UK Central Authority for the Exchange of Criminal Records
(UKCA- ECR)

PO Box 481 Fareham PO14 9FS

+44 (0) 01489569805

UKCA@ACRO.pnn.police.uk