CHAPTER VII

PROCESSING OF INFORMATION

Access to information by the EPPO
Article 43
1
European Delegated Prosecutors shall be able to obtain any relevant information stored in national criminal investigation and law enforcement databases, as well as other relevant registers of public authorities, under the same conditions as those that apply under national law in similar cases.
2
The EPPO shall also be able to obtain any relevant information falling within its competence that is stored in databases and registers of the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union.

Case management system
Article 44
1
The EPPO shall establish a case management system, which shall be held and managed in accordance with the rules established in this Regulation and in the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO.
2
The purpose of the case management system shall be to:
a
support the management of investigations and prosecutions conducted by the EPPO, in particular by managing internal information workflows and by supporting investigative work in cross-border cases;
b
ensure secure access to information on investigations and prosecutions at the Central Office and by the European Delegated Prosecutors;
c
allow for the cross-referencing of information and the extraction of data for operational analysis and statistical purposes;
d
facilitate monitoring to ensure that the processing of operational personal data is lawful and complies with the relevant provisions of this Regulation.
3
The case management system may be linked to the secure telecommunications connection referred to in Article 9 of Council Decision 2008/976/JHA .
4
The case management system shall contain:
a
a register of information obtained by the EPPO in accordance with Article 24, including any decisions in relation to that information,
b
an index of all case files;
c
all information from the case files stored electronically in the case management system in accordance with Article 45(3).
The index shall not contain any operational personal data other than data needed to identify cases or establish cross-links between different case files.
5
For the processing of operational personal data, the EPPO may only establish automated data files other than case files in accordance with this Regulation and with the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO. Details on such other automated data files shall be notified to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Case files of the EPPO
Article 45
1
Where the EPPO decides to open an investigation or exercise its right of evocation in accordance with this Regulation, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall open a case file.
The case file shall contain all the information and evidence available to the European Delegated Prosecutor that relates to the investigation or prosecution by the EPPO.
Once an investigation has been opened, the information from the register referred to in Article 44(4)(a) shall become part of the case file.
2
The case file shall be managed by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor in accordance with the law of his/her Member State.
The internal rules of procedure of the EPPO may include rules on the organisation and management of the case files to the extent necessary to ensure the functioning of the EPPO as a single office. Access to the case file by suspects and accused persons as well as other persons involved in the proceedings shall be granted by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor in accordance with the national law of that Prosecutor’s Member State.
3
The case management system of the EPPO shall include all information and evidence from the case file that may be stored electronically, in order to enable the Central Office to carry out its functions in accordance with this Regulation. The handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall ensure that the content of information in the case management system reflects at all times the case file, in particular that operational personal data contained in the case management system is erased or rectified whenever such data has been erased or rectified in the corresponding case file.

Access to the case management system
Article 46
The European Chief Prosecutor, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors, other European Prosecutors and the European Delegated Prosecutors shall have direct access to the register and to the index.
The supervising European Prosecutor as well as the competent Permanent Chamber shall, when exercising their competences in accordance with Articles 10 and 12, have direct access to information stored electronically in the case management system. The supervising European Prosecutor shall also have direct access to the case file. The competent Permanent Chamber shall have access to the case file at its request.
Other European Delegated Prosecutors may request access to information stored electronically in the case management system as well as any case file. The handling European Delegated Prosecutor shall decide on granting such access to other European Delegated Prosecutors in accordance with applicable national law. If the access is not granted, the matter may be referred to the competent Permanent Chamber. The competent Permanent Chamber shall, to the extent necessary, hear the European Delegated Prosecutors concerned and then decide in accordance with applicable national law as well as this Regulation.
The internal rules of procedure of the EPPO shall set out further rules regarding the right to access, and the procedure to establish the level of access to the case management system by the European Chief Prosecutor, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors, other European Prosecutors, the European Delegated Prosecutors and the staff of the EPPO, to the extent required for the performance of their duties.
Council Decision 2008/976/JHA of 16 December 2008 on the European Judicial Network (OJ L 348, 24.12.2008, p. 130).