Council of Europe - European Treaty Series - No 180>PIC FILE= "L_2003321PT.004303.TIF">CONVENTION ON INFORMATIONAND LEGAL COOPERATIONCONCERNING"INFORMATION SOCIETY SERVICES"Moscow, 4.X.2001PreambleThe Parties to this Convention, signatories hereto,Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage;Noting the continued development of information and communication technology and the numerous national initiatives and their impact at a European and international level;Recognising the cross-border nature of interactive services that are diffused on-line by new means of electronic communication and their growing importance in facilitating the economic, social and cultural progress of the Council of Europe Member States;Recalling the system established by the legislation of the European Community for the exchange of the texts of draft domestic regulations concerning "Information Society Services";Noting the need for all Council of Europe Member States to be kept regularly informed of legislative developments on "Information Society Services" at a pan-European level and, where necessary, to have the possibility to discuss and exchange information and ideas regarding these developments;Agreeing on the desirability to provide a legal framework to enable Member States of the Council of Europe to exchange, where practicable by electronic means, texts of draft domestic regulations aimed specifically at "Information Society Services",Have agreed as follows:Article 1- Object and scope of application1 In accordance with the provisions of this Convention, the Parties shall exchange texts, where practicable by electronic means, of draft domestic regulations aimed specifically at "Information Society Services" and shall cooperate in the functioning of the information and legal cooperation system set up under the Convention.2 This Convention shall not apply:a to domestic regulations which are exempt from prior notification by virtue of European Community legislation (hereinafter referred to as "Community law"); orb where a notification has to be made to comply with other international agreements.3 This Convention shall not apply:a to radio broadcasting services;b to television programme services covered by the European Convention on transfrontier television, opened for signature in Strasbourg on 5 May 1989 (ETS No 132), as amended by the Protocol of 1 October 1998 (ETS No 171);c to domestic regulations relating to matters which are covered by European Community legislation or international agreements in the fields of telecommunications services and financial services.Article 2- DefinitionsFor the purposes of this Conventiona "Information Society Services", means any service, normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services;b "domestic regulations", means legal texts concerning the compliance with requirements of a general nature relating to the taking up and pursuit of service activities within the meaning of paragraph (a) of this article, in particular provisions concerning the service provider, the services and the recipient of services, excluding any rules which are not specifically aimed at the Information Society Services.Article 3- Receiving and transmitting authoritiesEach Party shall designate an authority that is in charge of transmitting and receiving, where practicable by electronic means, draft domestic regulations aimed specifically at "Information Society Services" as well as any other documents pertaining to the functioning of the present Convention.Article 4- Procedure1 Each Party shall transmit, where practicable by electronic means, to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the texts of draft domestic regulations which are aimed specifically at "Information Society Services" and which are at a stage of preparation in which it is still possible for them to be substantially amended, as well as a short summary of these texts in English or French. The Parties shall communicate the draft again under the above conditions if they make changes to the draft that have the effect of significantly altering its scope, shortening the timetable originally envisaged for implementation, adding specifications or requirements, or making the latter more restrictive.2 Upon receipt of the texts of the draft domestic regulations and summaries under paragraph 1 above or paragraph 6 below, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit them, where practicable by electronic means, to the authority of each Party.3 Upon receipt of the texts and summaries under paragraph 2 above, each Party may transmit, where practicable by electronic means, observations on the texts of the draft domestic regulations in English or French to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and to the Party concerned.4 A Party receiving the observations under paragraph 3 above shall endeavour to take them into account as far as possible when preparing new domestic regulations.5 Paragraphs 1 to 4 above shall not apply:a in cases where, for urgent reasons, occasioned by serious and unforeseeable circumstances relating to the protection of public health or safety, the protection of animals or the preservation of plants, and public policy, notably the protection of minors, a Party is obliged to prepare technical regulations in a very short space of time in order to enact and introduce them immediately without any consultations being possible;b in cases where for