Article 41  |  Decision to initiate an investigation or to evoke a case

– as amended by Council Decision 085/2021

1. Where, following the verification, the EPPO decides to exercise its competence by initiating an investigation or evoking a case, a case file shall be opened and it shall be assigned an identification number in the index of the case files (hereinafter the Index). A permanent link to the related registration under Article 38(1) above shall be automatically created by the Case Management System.

2. The corresponding reference in the Index shall contain, to the extent available:

a) As regards suspected or accused persons in the criminal proceedings of the EPPO or persons convicted following the criminal proceedings of the EPPO,

i. surname, maiden name, given names and any alias or assumed names;

ii. date and place of birth;

iii. nationality;

iv. sex;

v. place of residence, profession and whereabouts of the person concerned,

vi. social security numbers, ID-codes, driving licences, identification documents, passport data, customs and tax identification numbers;

vii. description of the alleged offences, including the date on which they were committed;

viii. category of the offences, including the existence of inextricably linked offences;

ix. the amount of the estimated damages;

x. suspected membership of a criminal organisation;

xi. details of accounts held with banks and other financial institutions;

xii. telephone numbers, SIM-card numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, and account and user names used on online platforms;

xiii. vehicle registration data;

xiv. identifiable assets owned or utilised by the person, such as crypto-assets and real estate.

xv. information whether potential privileges or immunities may apply.

b) as regards natural persons who reported or are victims of offences that fall within the competence of the EPPO,

i. surname, maiden name, given names and any alias or assumed names;

ii. date and place of birth;

iii. nationality;

iv. sex;

v. place of residence, profession and whereabouts of the person concerned;

vi. ID-codes, identification documents, and passport data;

vii. description and nature of the offences involving or reported by the person concerned, the date on which the offences were committed and the criminal category of the offences.

c) as regards contacts or associates of one of the persons referred to in point (a) above,

i. surname, maiden name, given names and any alias or assumed names;

ii. date and place of birth;

iii. nationality;

iv. sex;

v. place of residence, profession and whereabouts of the person concerned;

vi. ID-codes, identification documents, and passport data.

The categories of personal data referred to above under points (a)(x)-(xv) shall be entered in the Index only to the extent practicable, taking into account the operational interest and available resources. The reference in the Index shall be maintained up to date during the investigation of a  case file. The Case Management System shall periodically notify the European Prosecutor and the European Delegated Prosecutor concerned if certain categories of information are not entered in the Index.

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Article 62  |  Cross checking of information

1. Information entered in the Index shall automatically be crosschecked against the Register, the Index and all information from the case files stored electronically in the Case Management System.

2. In case of a hit, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor and the supervising European Prosecutor of the underlying cases shall be notified.

3. If access to one of the linked cases was temporarily restricted to certain users in accordance with Article 61(3), only the handling European Delegated Prosecutor and the supervising European Prosecutor of the respective case shall be notified.

4. The application of paragraphs 1 to 3 above shall also be permissible for information inserted into or added to the Register and information from the case files stored electronically in the Case Management System not in the Index.