CHAPTER IV

Without prejudice to Article 8(1) or the provisions of this Regulation providing for the storage of additional data, SIS II shall contain only those categories of data which are supplied by each of the Member States, as required for the purposes laid down in Article 24. The information on persons in relation to whom an alert has been issued shall be no more than the following: surname(s) and forename(s), name(s) at birth and previously used names and any aliases, which may be entered separately; any specific, objective, physical characteristics not subject to change; place and date of birth; sex; photographs; fingerprints; nationality(ies); whether the person concerned is armed, violent or has escaped; reason for the alert; authority issuing the alert; a reference to the decision giving rise to the alert; action to be taken; link(s) to other alerts issued in SIS II in accordance with Article 37. The technical rules necessary for entering, updating, deleting and searching the data referred to in paragraph 2 shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 51(2), without prejudice to the provisions of the instrument setting up the Management Authority. The technical rules necessary for searching the data referred to in paragraph 2 shall be similar for searches in CS-SIS, in national copies and in technical copies, as referred to in Article 31(2). Before issuing an alert, Member States shall determine whether the case is adequate, relevant and important enough to warrant entry of the alert in SIS II. The use of photographs and fingerprints as referred to in Article 20(2)(e) and (f) shall be subject to the following provisions: photographs and fingerprints shall only be entered following a special quality check to ascertain the fulfilment of a minimum data quality standard. The specification of the special quality check shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 51(2), without prejudice to the provisions of the instrument setting up the Management Authority; photographs and fingerprints shall only be used to confirm the identity of a third-country national who has been located as a result of an alphanumeric search made in SIS II; as soon as this becomes technically possible, fingerprints may also be used to identify a third-country national on the basis of his biometric identifier. Before this functionality is implemented in SIS II, the Commission shall present a report on the availability and readiness of the required technology, on which the European Parliament shall be consulted. An alert may not be entered without the data referred to in Article 20(2)(a), (d), (k) and (l). When available, all other data listed in Article 20(2) shall also be entered. Data on third-country nationals in respect of whom an alert has been issued for the purposes of refusing entry or stay shall be entered on the basis of a national alert resulting from a decision taken by the competent administrative authorities or courts in accordance with the rules of procedure laid down by national law taken on the basis of an individual assessment. Appeals against these decisions shall lie in accordance with national legislation. An alert shall be entered where the decision referred to in paragraph 1 is based on a threat to public policy or public security or to national security which the presence of the third-country national in question in the territory of a Member State may pose. This situation shall arise in particular in the case of: a third-country national who has been convicted in a Member State of an offence carrying a penalty involving deprivation of liberty of at least one year; a third-country national in respect of whom there are serious grounds for believing that he has committed a serious criminal offence or in respect of whom there are clear indications of an intention to commit such an offence in the territory of a Member State. An alert may also be entered when the decision referred to in paragraph 1 is based on the fact that the third-country national has been subject to a measure involving expulsion, refusal of entry or removal which has not been rescinded or suspended, that includes or is accompanied by a prohibition on entry or, where applicable, a prohibition on residence, based on a failure to comply with national regulations on the entry or residence of third-country nationals. This Article shall not apply in respect of the persons referred to in Article 26. The Commission shall review the application of this Article three years after the date referred to in Article 55(2). On the basis of that review, the Commission shall, using its right of initiative in accordance with the Treaty, make the necessary proposals to modify the provisions of this Article to achieve a greater level of harmonisation of the criteria for entering alerts. An alert concerning a third-country national who is a beneficiary of the right of free movement within the Community, within the meaning of Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 77. shall be in conformity with the rules adopted in implementation of that Directive. Where there is a hit on an alert pursuant to Article 24 concerning a third-country national who is a beneficiary of the right of free movement within the Community, the Member State executing the alert shall consult immediately the issuing Member State, through its SIRENE Bureau and in accordance with the provisions of the SIRENE Manual, in order to decide without delay on the action to be taken. Without prejudice to Article 25, alerts relating to third-country nationals who are the subject of a restrictive measure intended to prevent entry into or transit through the territory of Member States, taken in accordance with Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union, including measures implementing a travel ban issued by the Security Council of the United Nations, shall, insofar as data-quality requirements are satisfied, be entered in SIS II for the purpose of refusing entry or stay. Article 23 shall not apply in respect of alerts entered on the basis of paragraph 1 of this Article. The Member State responsible for entering, updating and deleting these alerts on behalf of all Member States shall be designated at the moment of the adoption of the relevant measure taken in accordance with Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union. Access to data entered in SIS II and the right to search such data directly or in a copy of SIS II data shall be reserved exclusively to the authorities responsible for the identification of third-country nationals for the purposes of: border control, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) OJ L 105, 13.4.2006, p. 1. ; other police and customs checks carried out within the Member State concerned, and the coordination of such checks by designated authorities. However, the right to access data entered in SIS II and the right to search such data directly may also be exercised by national judicial authorities, including those responsible for the initiation of public prosecutions in criminal proceedings and for judicial inquiries prior to charge, in the performance of their tasks, as provided for in national legislation, and by their coordinating authorities. In addition, the right to access data entered in SIS II and the data concerning documents relating to persons entered in accordance with Article 38(2)(d) and (e) of Decision 2006/000/JHA and the right to search such data directly may be exercised by the authorities responsible for issuing visas, the central authorities responsible for examining visa applications and the authorities responsible for issuing residence permits and for the administration of legislation relating to third-country nationals in the context of the application of the Community acquis relating to the movement of persons. Access to data by these authorities shall be governed by the law of each Member State. The authorities referred to in this Article shall be included in the list referred to in Article 31(8). Users may only access data which they require for the performance of their tasks. Alerts entered in SIS II pursuant to this Regulation shall be kept only for the time required to achieve the purposes for which they were entered. A Member State issuing an alert shall, within three years of its entry in SIS II, review the need to keep it. Each Member State shall, where appropriate, set shorter review periods in accordance with its national law. Within the review period, a Member State issuing an alert may, following a comprehensive individual assessment, which shall be recorded, decide to keep the alert longer, should this prove necessary for the purposes for which the alert was issued. In such a case, paragraph 2 shall apply also to the extension. Any extension of an alert shall be communicated to CS-SIS. Alerts shall automatically be erased after the review period referred to in paragraph 2 except where the Member State issuing the alert has communicated the extension of the alert to CS-SIS pursuant to paragraph 4. CS-SIS shall automatically inform the Member States of the scheduled deletion of data from the system four months in advance. Member States shall keep statistics about the number of alerts the retention period of which has been extended in accordance with paragraph 4. Alerts issued in respect of a person who has acquired citizenship of any State whose nationals are beneficiaries of the right of free movement within the Community shall be erased as soon as the Member State which issued the alert becomes aware, or is informed pursuant to Article 34, that the person in question has acquired such citizenship.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-14 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.