On 10th and 11th November 2008, in Sofia was held a workshop, organised by the Bureau of Technical Aid and Information Exchange (TAIEX Instruments) at the General Directorate of Expansion of the European Commission with the assistance of the Academy of European Law. The topic of the workshop was “personal data protection for the purpose of police and court collaboration on criminal procedures and legal issues. The aim of the workshop was to observe in details the international and European legal instruments in the field of data protection. The subject of discussion was the Draft Frame Agreement of the Council on personal data protection within the criminal procedure, as well the rules for personal data protection under Prum Agreement and Swedish initiative. Special attention was paid on the requirements of personal data protection in exchange of information in Shengen Informational System, as well as the information exchange with the European Offices of Europol and EuroUse within police and court collaboration. Presentations were made by leading experts on different European institutions and agencies – the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Court, the Council of EU, Europol and EuroUse.
At the national level, a presentation was done by Mrs Stefka Solovyova, an Expert at the Commission for Protection of Personal Data. She made a review of the acting national legislation for data protection and especially for police and court collaboration on criminal procedures and judicial issues.
After each presentation, interesting practical questions were put forward by the audience, which mainly consisted of experts from the Commission for Personal Data Protection and officers of the Ministry of Interior.
