LAWMAKERS are putting the final touches to a draft bill that would allow police for the first time to legally tap phones and monitor internet communications in criminal cases.
That would require an amendment of Article 17 of the Constitution. The necessary consensus seems to be in place for the change, and the bill should muster the required two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution.
As the draft legislation stands, phone surveillance covers suspects connected to the following crimes: premeditated murder; manslaughter; attempted murder; trafficking of human beings (adults and minors); trade, trafficking, distribution, cultivation and manufacturing of narcotics; internet-related crimes, such as child pornography; currency forgery; and money laundering.
Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee and DISY MP Ionas Nicolaou said yesterday he expected the bill to go before the plenum in two weeks’ time. Attending yesterday’s session of the committee was the Attorney-general.
Speaking to newsmen afterwards, Greens deputy Giorgos Perdikis stressed the law should not violate human rights, but despite any concerns his party was willing to work with the others to reach a “compromise formula.”
Nicolaou said that a few outstanding issues still needed to be ironed out, such as whether the bill will include a provision allowing for the future inclusion of more crimes for which communications surveillance is to be allowed.
Lawmakers are also grappling with privacy questions and accountability of the persons conducting the surveillance. A number of ideas are on the table, such as that police agents engaged in surveillance will be answerable to a special committee, perhaps even a parliamentary oversight committee.
“Our aim is to ensure in the best possible way that phone surveillance will not be abused,” Nicolaou said.
A primary concern is guaranteeing that the surveillance is limited to information directly linked to the criminal case under investigation. The bill includes a clause stating that anyone (i.e. a police officer) found to have leaked information of a personal nature will be prosecuted.
Explaining how the system would work, Nicolaou said that during the course of an investigation police would ask the Attorney-general permission to tap phones; the AG would then file a request for a court order. If granted, the court order will specify the conditions under which the surveillance is allowed.
It’s also been proposed that the law has retroactive effect and be applicable for crimes committed since 1 January 2007.
Law enforcement authorities have long been asking for this additional crime-solving tool. The matter first came up back in 1999, when the then Attorney-general Alecos Markides submitted a bill, which however failed to garner a majority in parliament.
The recent murder of media owner Andis Hadjicostis in Nicosia – with investigations focusing heavily on the phone communications of the suspects – has given impetus for this new drive to amend the laws.
