European Communities (Communication of Passenger Data) Regulations 2011

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 597/2011
• Year: 2011

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 25th November, 2011.

I, ALAN SHATTER T.D., Minister for Justice and Equality, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purposes of giving effect to the Council Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April 20041 , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Communication of Passenger Data) Regulations 2011.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 November 2011.

Interpretation.

2. (1) In these Regulations:

“Council Directive” means Council Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April 20041 on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data;

“immigration offence” means an offence under the—

(a) Aliens Act 1935 (No. 14 of 1935),

(b) Refugee Act 1996 (No. 17 of 1996),

(c) Immigration Act 1999 (No. 22 of 1999),

(d) Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 (No. 29 of 2000),

(e) Immigration Act 2003 (No. 26 of 2003), or

(f) Immigration Act 2004 (No. 1 of 2004);

“Minister” means the Minister for Justice and Equality;

“person of concern” means a person who—

(a) has committed, or is suspected of having committed—

(i) an immigration offence,

(ii) an offence in respect of which a European arrest warrant could be issued in the State or a Member State under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 (No. 45 of 2003),

(iii) an offence under the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006 or any other enactment relating to employment in the State,

(iv) a revenue offence, or

(v) an offence under the Social Welfare Acts,

(b) has engaged in or facilitated, or is suspected of having engaged in or facilitated, illegal immigration, smuggling of persons or trafficking,

(c) is a victim, or is suspected of being a victim, of any of the activities referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) and the retention of the information concerned in accordance with Regulation 6 would assist in the investigation of any offence committed under those paragraphs, or

(d) on the basis of information available to him or her, the Minister is satisfied should be treated as a person of concern for any purpose mentioned in Regulation 3(1)(a);

“port” has the same meaning as it has in section 1 of the Immigration Act 2004 (No. 1 of 2004);

“revenue offence” means a revenue offence within the meaning of section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008 (No. 7 of 2008);

“smuggling”, in relation to a person by an individual, means the organisation or facilitation, for gain, of the entry into the State of the person, where the individual knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the person is an illegal immigrant (within the meaning of section 1 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 ) or intends to seek asylum, but does not include anything done by an individual, in the course of his or her employment by a bona fide organisation the purposes of which include giving assistance to persons seeking asylum, to assist a person seeking asylum;

“trafficking” means—

(a) trafficking a child for the purpose of the exploitation of the child, or

(b) trafficking a person for the purpose of the exploitation of that person,

within the meaning of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 (No. 8 of 2008).

(2) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Directive.

Collection of data.

3. (1)(a) The Minister may, for the purposes of—

(i) the operation and administration of the law concerning the entry into, presence in, departure and removal from the State of persons,

(ii) ensuring the orderly regulation of migration, the integrity of the immigration system or the prevention and control of the unlawful presence of persons in the State,

(iii) combating illegal immigration, smuggling of persons and trafficking,

(iv) establishing the identity and nationality of persons,

(v) establishing whether persons are persons of concern,

require a carrier...