Artikel 41

1. By mutual agreement, the competent authorities of two or more States Parties may take the necessary measures, in accordance with their domestic law and international law, to establish a joint investigation team for a specific purpose and a limited period, which may be extended by mutual consent, to carry out criminal investigations in one or more of the States Parties involved.
2. The composition of the team shall be set out in the agreement. A joint investigation team may, in particular, be established where:
a) The investigations of a State Party into crimes to which it applies this Convention require difficult and demanding investigations having links with other States Parties;
b) A number of States Parties are conducting investigations into crimes to which they apply this Convention where the circumstances of the case necessitate coordinated, concerted action in the States Parties involved.
3. A request for the setting up of a joint investigation team may be made by any of the States Parties concerned. The team shall be set up in one of the States Parties in which the investigations are expected to be carried out.
4. In addition to the information referred to in the relevant provisions of article 25, requests for setting up of a joint investigation team shall include proposals for the composition of the team, the purpose of, and the duration for which the joint investigation team would be constituted.
5. A joint investigation team shall operate in the territory of the States Parties setting up the team under the following general conditions:
a) The leader or leaders of the team shall be representatives of the competent authorities participating in criminal investigations from the State Party in which the team operates;
b) The leader or leaders of the team shall act within the limits of their competence under their respective domestic laws;
c) The team shall carry out its operations in accordance with the domestic law of the State Party in which the team operates;
d) The members and seconded members of the team shall carry out their tasks under the leadership of the persons referred to in subparagraph (a), taking into account the conditions set by their own authorities in the agreement on establishing the team;
e) The State Party in which the team operates shall make the necessary organizational arrangements for it to carry out its operations.
6. In this article, members of the joint investigation team from the State Party in which the team operates are referred to as “members”, while members from States Parties other than the State Party in which the team operates are referred to as “seconded members”.
7. Seconded members of the joint investigation team shall be entitled to be present when investigative measures are taken in the State Party in which the team operates. However, the leader of the team may, for particular reasons, in accordance with the domestic law of the State Party in which the team operates, decide otherwise.
8. Seconded members of the joint investigation team may, in accordance with the domestic law of the State Party in which the team operates, be entrusted by the leader of the team with the task of taking certain investigative measures where this has been approved by the competent authorities of the State Party in which the team operates and the seconding State Party.
9. Where the joint investigation team needs investigative measures to be taken in one of the States Parties establishing the team, members seconded to the team by that State Party may request their own competent authorities to take those measures. Those measures shall be considered in that State Party under the conditions which would apply if they were requested in a domestic investigation.
10. Where the joint investigation team needs assistance from a State Party other than those which have established the team, or from a third State, the request for assistance may be made by the competent authorities of the State Party in which the team operates to the competent authorities of the other State concerned in accordance with the relevant instruments or arrangements.
11. Seconded members of the joint investigation team may, in accordance with their domestic law and within the limits of their competence, provide the team with information available in the State Party which has seconded them for the purpose of the criminal investigations conducted by the team.
12. Information lawfully obtained by a member or seconded member while part of a joint investigation team which is not otherwise available to the competent authorities of the States Parties involved may be used for the following purposes:
a) For the purposes for which the team has been established;
b) For detecting, investigating and prosecuting other crimes, subject to the prior consent of the competent authority of the State Party where the information became available, which may be withheld only in cases where such use would endanger criminal investigations in that State Party or in respect of which that State Party could refuse mutual legal assistance;
c) For preventing an immediate and serious threat to public security and without prejudice to subparagraph (b) if subsequently a criminal investigation is opened;
d) For other purposes to the extent that this is agreed between the States Parties which have established the team.
13. This article shall be without prejudice to any other existing provisions or arrangements on the establishment or operation of joint investigation teams.
14. To the extent that the domestic laws of the States Parties concerned or the provisions of any legal instrument applicable between them permit, arrangements may be agreed for persons other than representatives of the competent authorities of the States Parties which have established the joint investigation team to take part in the activities of the team. The rights conferred upon the members or seconded members of the team by virtue of this article shall not apply to these persons, unless the agreement expressly states otherwise.