Article 20 Hot pursuit

1.

2.

a)

the pursuing officers shall not have the right to apprehend;

b)

however, if no request to cease the pursuit is made and if the competent authorities of the Member State in whose territory the pursuit is taking place are unable to intervene quickly enough, the pursuing officers may apprehend the person pursued until the officers of the said Member State, who must be informed without delay, are able to establish his identity or arrest him.

3.

a)

in an area or during a period, as from the crossing of the border, to be established in the declaration;

b)

without limit in space or time.

4.

a)

the pursuing officers shall comply with the provisions of this Article and with the law of the Member State in whose territory they are operating; they shall obey the instructions of the competent authorities of the said Member State;

b)

when the pursuit takes place on the sea, it shall, where it extends to the high sea or the exclusive economic zone, be carried out in conformity with the international law of the sea as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and, when it takes place in the territory of another Member State, it shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Article;

c)

entry into private homes and places not accessible to the public shall be prohibited;

d)

the pursuing officers shall be easily identifiable, either by their uniform or an armband or by means of accessories fitted to their means of transport; the use of civilian clothes combined with the use of unmarked means of transport without the aforementioned identification is prohibited; the pursuing officers shall at all times be able to prove that they are acting in an official capacity;

e)

the pursuing officers may carry their service weapons, save

(i)

where the requested Member State has made a general declaration that weapons may never be carried into its territory or

(ii)

where specifically decided otherwise by the requested Member State.

When officers of another Member State are permitted to carry their service weapons, their use shall be prohibited save in cases of legitimate self-defence;

f)

once the pursued person has been apprehended as provided for in paragraph 2(b), for the purpose of bringing him before the competent authorities of the Member State in whose territory the pursuit took place he may be subjected only to a security search; handcuffs may be used during his transfer; objects carried by the pursued person may be seized;

g)

after each operation mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, the pursuing officers shall present themselves before the competent authorities of the Member State in whose territory they were operating and shall give an account of their mission; at the request of those authorities, they must remain at their disposal until the circumstances of their action have been adequately elucidated; this condition shall apply even where the pursuit has not resulted in the arrest of the pursued person;

h)

the authorities of the Member State from which the pursuing officers have come shall, when requested by the authorities of the Member State in whose territory the pursuit took place, assist the enquiry subsequent to the operation in which they took part, including legal proceedings.

5.

6.

7.

8.