Procedure for requests for mutual assistance

1.   When making a request for mutual assistance, the applicant authority shall provide the information necessary to enable the requested authority to fulfil that request, including any necessary evidence which can only be obtained in the Member State of the applicant authority.
2.   The applicant authority shall send such requests for mutual assistance to the single liaison office of the Member State of the requested authority and to the single liaison office of the Member State of the applicant authority for information. The single liaison office of the Member State of the requested authority shall pass the requests on to the appropriate competent authority without delay.
3.   Requests for mutual assistance and all communications linked to them shall be made in writing using standard forms and shall be communicated electronically via the electronic database provided for in Article 35.
4.   The competent authorities concerned shall agree on the languages to be used for requests for mutual assistance and for all communications linked to them.
5.   If no agreement about languages can be reached, requests for mutual assistance shall be sent in the official language, or one of the official languages, of the Member State of the applicant authority and replies in the official language, or one of the official languages, of the Member State of the requested authority. In that case, each competent authority shall be responsible for the necessary translations of the requests, replies and other documents that it receives from another competent authority.
6.   The requested authority shall reply directly both to the applicant authority and to the single liaison offices of the Member States of the applicant authority and of the requested authority.