Further Detail

AREAS OF INTEREST

The main areas of concern were/are as follows:

Title II – Exchanges of DNA, Fingerprints and VRD (Prüm)
Title III –Transfer and Processing of PNR data
Title IV – Co-operation on Operational Information
Title V – Europol
Title VII – Surrender (Extradition)
Title IX – Criminal Records Sharing
Title XI – Asset Freezing and Confiscation

In the below paragraphs, Overview and Compliance, Evidence Gaps, Use of capability and EU issues will be explored.

Title II – Exchanges of DNA, Fingerprints and VRD (Prüm)

This section establishes reciprocal cooperation between the UK’s and the EU Member States’ respective law enforcement authorities governing the automated transfer of DNA profiles, fingerprints (referred to as ‘dactyloscopic data’ in the text) and “certain domestic vehicle registration data”.

Police Scotland’s access to the Prüm DNA and Fingerprint Databases provide better cooperation between police forces and law enforcement agencies in the UK and across the EU by facilitation of matching samples on each other’s databases, boosting their capacity to tackle cross-border crime and protect citizens.

Unknown samples taken from crime scenes can now be compared automatically with profiles held by other EUMS, improving the speed and efficiency of data exchanges thus increasing cross-border police cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, crime and illegal migration.

The use of Prüm has, both for EU countries and Scottish cases, resulted in the detection of offenders for crimes that would not otherwise be resolved and with further EUMS due to on-board, this will further strengthen law enforcement cooperation.

Title III –Transfer and Processing of PNR data

This Title deals with the transfer, use and processing of “passenger name record data” gleaned from flights between the European Union and the UK.

Under the TCA, the UK may soon have to delete PNR data of passengers after they depart the UK, unless objective evidence can be provided that certain passengers present a risk in terms of fighting terrorism and serious crime.

The interim period during which the UK may derogate from its obligations under this section of the TCA has been extended for a second and last time until 31 December 2023.

Substantial progress has been made on a new capability to permanently delete specific EU PNR data not needed to be retained. Developers are now in the final stages of working through technical steps to identify specific EU PNR data which will be subject to deletion, and to apply a risk assessment to that data to determine whether it is necessary for the purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting terrorist offences or serious crime and protecting the vital interests of persons, for the data to be retained for up to five years.

Continuation of the sharing of PNR data is of crucial importance to the security of Scottish communities and the UK in general.

Title IV – Co-operation on Operational Information

Provides for national police and customs authorities (“or other authorities competent under domestic law”) that work to prevent, investigate, detect or prosecute criminal offences, execute criminal penalties, safeguard public safety, and prevent money laundering or the financing of terrorism, to “assist each other through the provision of relevant information”.

One of the most significant consequences of the UK’s new third country status is the loss of access to the Schengen Information System (SIS II). The importance of this system, and the real-time access it provides to data about persons and objects of interest, including wanted and missing persons, was of particular importance to Scottish law enforcement.

SIS II previously played a vital role in supporting the operations of UK law enforcement agencies, providing a mechanism for EU Member States to share and act on real-time data on persons and objects of interest including wanted and missing persons.

As a substitute, UK authorities turned to the Interpol I-24/7 database however the effectiveness of this as an alternative rests upon the willingness of EU States to upload the same information onto the Interpol system that they circulate on SIS II which requires “double keying”. It is difficult to quantify how much double keying is taking place and how accurate I-24/7 is compared to SIS II.

The UK’s longer-term plans are to improve the exchange of alert data, between the UK, EU and third countries through the Interpol Law Enforcement Alert Platform (ILEAP). The Phase 1 purpose of ILEAP was about increasing the functionality of the Interpol system of notices to make it more readily accessible for UK policing and is being rolled out across Police Scotland from April, 2023.

Title V – Europol

The objective of this Title is to establish “cooperative relations” between Europol and the UK “domestic law enforcement” authorities for the purposes of “preventing and combating serious crime, terrorism and forms of crime which affect a common interest covered by a Union policy.”

Police Scotland maintains a close relationship with Europol on law enforcement and criminal justice and will continue to share data and expertise, but the UK will no longer have a role in the overall management or a say in its strategic direction.

On a practical level, very little appears to have changed in our relationship with Europol despite now being a third country, albeit we are no longer in a position to instigate a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and have to rely on the EUMS inviting us to attend. Whilst we are no longer members of the management committee, the UK remains one of the top third countries contributing to Europol databases and leaving the EU has not degraded our influence or ability to engage with EUMS.

We still have a Police Scotland officer seconded to the Europol UK Liaison Bureau and have seen no deterioration in the volume, speed, quantity or quality of the intelligence we share through Europol post Brexit.

Title VII – Surrender (Extradition)

This Title deals with extradition arrangements between the UK and (most) EU Member States based on the issuing of an arrest warrant. Its provisions broadly replicate arrangements under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW).

In practical terms, whilst the Nationality Bar is having an impact / delay on some surrenders of requested persons, Police Scotland continue to work very closely with the Crown Office International Cooperation Unit (COICU) to whom Transfer of Victim Proceedings is an ongoing consideration.

Extradition work by its nature is demand driven and varies year on year, however there was an increase in warrants received from abroad in the final quarter of 2020 when EUMS were concerned around the uncertainty of the surrender process post Brexit.

The International restrictions on travel as a result of Covid-19 further impacted free movement of fugitives both out of and into the UK as well as causing practical issues for policing when surrendering and returning requested persons.

Despite the difficulties caused as a result of the Nationality Bar, there is an anticipation that the number of extraditions may now be returning to what we would expect to see post Brexit with EUMS having confidence in the negotiated surrender measures within Title VII of the TCA.

Title IX – Criminal Records Sharing

Following the implementation of the TCA, it was agreed, that responses to requests for Criminal Records from an EU Member State should be replied to as soon as possible, and at a minimum within 20 days, the UK is hitting this target in 99.3% of cases.

Title XI – Asset Freezing and Confiscation

This Title is in relation to requests to identify, trace, freeze or seize should receive the same priority as domestic requests. Where immediate freezing necessary, the requested State shall comply with request within 96 hours of receipt with confiscation to take place within 45 days of receipt.
Compliance with the TCA arrangements show the number/proportion of urgent freezing requests (in- and outgoing) are complied with within 96 hours of receipt and the number/proportion of non-urgent freezing requests (in- and outgoing) complied with within same timescales as domestic cases.

There have been no major issues with EU compliance so far, although only one issue has arisen where Ireland is incorrectly requiring freezing requests to be signed by the UK judge before they will action, which is being followed up through the appropriate channels.

JOINT INTERNATIONAL CRIME CENTRE (JICC)

Over the last 2 years the National Crime Agency (NCA) and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), with Home Office support, have worked together to create the Joint International Crime Centre (JICC), which will be hosted by the NCA. Police Scotland have had a Detective Superintendent seconded to the project team to ensure the interests of the force were represented.

One of the driving forces to create the JICC was to support UK law enforcement following UK EU Exit. The international demands on territorial policing and wider law enforcement will only grow over the next decade. Crimes committed on the streets, behind closed doors or on the internet will sometimes require international enquiries or an overseas response from international partners. Foreign nationals feature in UK investigations as suspects, witnesses and victims. The same can be said for UK nationals who live or travel overseas, accounting for dozens of requests for support from international partners every week.

The JICC will have a UK-wide remit and will drive, coordinate and support the response of UK policing and law enforcement to tackle international crime. It will be made up of over 300 officers at full strength, of which a third will be seconded from across policing.

The JICC offers a multi-agency approach to meeting the increasing international demands of territorial policing, integrated with the NCA’s specialist international capabilities. Crucially, it provides a whole-system approach to tackling international crime – focussing operations upstream, overseas and online.

The JICC launched on the 3rd April 2023 and has already embarked on a programme of continuous improvement to shorten the distance between front line law enforcement and the entirety of the NCA’s international capabilities. This will include a closer relationship with the NCAs International Liaison Network of over 150 officers based in 50 countries around the world.

A Collaboration Agreement has been signed between the NPCC and NCA to underpin the responsibilities of the JICC to law enforcement in England and Wales. Due to the jurisdictional and governance differences in Scotland, a separate Collaboration Arrangement has been prepared and is in the final stages of review by PSOS Legal Teams.

INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ALERTS PLATFORM (ILEAP)

Following the UK’s EU Exit, the UK disconnected from the EU SIS II system (Schengen Information System, generation 2). The UK had been a participant in SIS II since April 2015 and, whilst we sought to retain access during negotiations, the EU took the position that it was legally impossible for them to offer SIS II to a third country outside of the Schengen area.

The I-LEAP programme will provide new alerting digital platform capabilities to police and Border Force officers in the UK, and to their equivalents in partner countries, enabling increased opportunities at the national border or within country to identify persons and objects of interest to law enforcement agencies.

It will do so by first enhancing the UK’s connectivity with INTERPOL by providing law enforcement agencies with connectivity to the fixed INTERPOL’s network database (FIND) system, providing real-time access to INTERPOL nominal data to UK policing, whilst also expanding access to other INTERPOL datasets. These services are being rolled out nationally to policing, the UK Border Force, and the National Crime Agency (NCA). This is the current priority of the programme.

The I-LEAP programme will seek to enhance international cooperation through improved access and use of INTERPOL data, providing increased operational value to border and law enforcement agencies. The Programme will deliver the following benefits:

Direct and real-time connection to INTERPOL data at the point this is made available to INTERPOL member states.

Provision of facial images on subjects of interest associated with INTERPOL notices and diffusions.

Access to additional data fields on subjects of interest than would otherwise have been available through the police national computer (PNC) record search.

Increased availability to law enforcement officers at the frontline

In the longer-term, the I-LEAP service will expand to provide reciprocal access to international alert data exchange with international partners, initially focussing on a potential multilateral solution with the EU followed by bilateral agreement with other partner countries who share the UK’s interest in further strengthening alert-sharing capabilities

Roll-out of ILEAP began in Police Scotland on the 4th April 2023 and will conclude by 5th February 2024. To date 2000 officers have undertook the training module and over 140,000 searches on Interpol Databases via ILEAP have been carried out.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion a great deal of work has been undertaken both within Police Scotland and in partnership with the Home Office and the NCA to ensure the continued safety of Scottish communities post EU Exit.

Whilst the loss of the LECJ EU Measures was of great concern to those involved in the international policing arena, the established relationships and introduction of replacement powers to mitigate the losses have ensured that we have not witnessed a degradation of service to Scottish communities we serve or the investigations we support out with our borders. Whilst there is an increase in bureaucracy which results in slightly more cumbersome processes, that can be more protracted, Police Scotland are still highly effective in this area. This will only be enhanced further with the introduction of JICC and ILEAP.

This report is submitted for the information and consideration of the Authority for their attention and discussion.