In section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (c. 38) (disclosure of information)—
(a)in subsection (5), for paragraph (c) there is substituted—
“(c)for the purposes of any criminal investigation or criminal proceedings, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere”,
(b)at the end of subsection (6) there is inserted—
“(n)any person or body having, under the Treaty on European Union or any other treaty to which the United Kingdom is a party, the function of receiving information of the kind in question,
(o)any person or body having, under the law of any country or territory outside the United Kingdom, the function of receiving information relating to the proceeds of crime”,
and the “and” preceding paragraph (m) is omitted.
After section 54 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29) there is inserted—
(1)The Commissioner may inspect any personal data recorded in—
(a)the Schengen information system,
(b)the Europol information system,
(c)the Customs information system.
(2)The power conferred by subsection (1) is exercisable only for the purpose of assessing whether or not any processing of the data has been or is being carried out in compliance with this Act.
(3)The power includes power to inspect, operate and test equipment which is used for the processing of personal data.
(4)Before exercising the power, the Commissioner must give notice in writing of his intention to do so to the data controller.
(5)But subsection (4) does not apply if the Commissioner considers that the case is one of urgency.
(6)Any person who—
(a)intentionally obstructs a person exercising the power conferred by subsection (1), or
(b)fails without reasonable excuse to give any person exercising the power any assistance he may reasonably require,
is guilty of an offence.
(7)In this section—
“the Customs information system” means the information system established under Chapter II of the Convention on the Use of Information Technology for Customs Purposes,
“the Europol information system” means the information system established under Title II of the Convention on the Establishment of a European Police Office,
“the Schengen information system” means the information system established under Title IV of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14th June 1985, or any system established in its place in pursuance of any Community obligation.”
Information held in any form—
(a)by the Secretary of State under Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52), or
(b)by the Department of the Environment under Part 2 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (S.I. 1981/ 154 (N.I.1)),
(licensing of drivers of vehicles) may be disclosed for the purposes of the Schengen information system (within the meaning of section 81).