d.
shall have the power to engage in legal proceedings or to bring to the attention of the competent
judicial authorities violations of the provisions of this
Convention;
e.
shall promote:
i. public awareness of their functions and
powers as well as their activities;
ii. public awareness of the rights of data subjects and the exercise of such rights;
iii. awareness of controllers and processors of
their responsibilities under this Convention;
specific attention shall be given to the data protection
rights of children and other vulnerable individuals.
3.
The competent supervisory authorities shall be
consulted on proposals for any legislative or administrative measures which provide for the processing
of personal data.
4.
Each competent supervisory authority shall deal
with requests and complaints lodged by data subjects
concerning their data protection rights and shall keep
data subjects informed of progress.
5.
The supervisory authorities shall act with complete independence and impartiality in performing
their duties and exercising their powers and in doing
so shall neither seek nor accept instructions.
6.
Each Party shall ensure that the supervisory
authorities are provided with the resources necessary
for the effective performance of their functions and
exercise of their powers.
7.
Each supervisory authority shall prepare and
publish a periodical report outlining its activities.
8.
Members and staff of the supervisory authorities
shall be bound by obligations of confidentiality with
regard to confidential information to which they have
access, or have had access to, in the performance of
their duties and exercise of their powers.
9.
Decisions of the supervisory authorities may be
subject to appeal through the courts.
10. The supervisory authorities shall not be competent with respect to processing carried out by bodies
when acting in their judicial capacity.
Chapter V – Co-operation and mutual
assistance
Article 16 – Designation of supervisory
authorities
1.
The Parties agree to co-operate and render each
other mutual assistance in order to implement this
Convention.
2.
For that purpose:
a.
each Party shall designate one or more supervisory authorities within the meaning of Article 15
of this Convention, the name and address of each of
which it shall communicate to the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe;
b.
each Party which has designated more than one
supervisory authority shall specify the competence of
each authority in its communication referred to in the
previous littera.
Article 17 – Forms of co-operation
1.
The supervisory authorities shall co-operate with
one another to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties and exercise of their powers, in
particular by:
a.
providing mutual assistance by exchanging relevant and useful information and co-operating with
each other under the condition that, as regards the
protection of personal data, all the rules and safeguards
of this Convention are complied with;
b.
co-ordinating their investigations or interventions, or conducting joint actions;
c.
providing information and documentation on
their law and administrative practice relating to data
protection.
2.
The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall
not include personal data undergoing processing
unless such data are essential for co-operation, or
where the data subject concerned has given explicit,
specific, free and informed consent to its provision.
3.
In order to organise their co-operation and to
perform the duties set out in the preceding paragraphs,
the supervisory authorities of the Parties shall form a
network.
Article 18 – Assistance to data subjects
1.
Each Party shall assist any data subject, whatever
his or her nationality or residence, to exercise his or
her rights under Article 9 of this Convention.
2.
Where a data subject resides on the territory of
another Party, he or she shall be given the option of
submitting the request through the intermediary of
the supervisory authority designated by that Party.
3.
The request for assistance shall contain all the
necessary particulars, relating inter alia to:
a.
the name, address and any other relevant particulars identifying the data subject making the request;
b.
the processing to which the request pertains, or
its controller;
c.
the purpose of the request.
Convention 108+ ► Page 11