AGREEMENTS WITH ASTERISKS FOR TELEPHONE SURVEILLANCE - ATTORNEY GENERAL WAS EXCLUDED, AND A FORMULA WAS FOUND WITH FORMER JUDGES FOR KYP - Filenews 21/3 by Michalis Chatzivasilis
White smoke came out yesterday from the extraordinary session of the Parliament's Legal Committee on the issue of wiretapping. However, nothing is over yet because it remains uncertain whether the final bills will be voted by the Plenary, since the objections of AKEL and individual MPs have not been overcome.
After discussions on discussions in the foreground and behind the scenes, yesterday in a closed session of the Committee and after several proposals were heard from MPs, while a proposal was also submitted by the Minister of Justice for the control of the requests of the KYP by three retired judges, there was finally a conclusion, which was in front of everyone from the beginning but they did not see it. The Attorney General was excluded from the equation since he was the cause of the objections of many MPs, and the formula which was found and will be forwarded to the Plenary Session of the Parliament on April 2, includes the following: When the Commander of the Cyprus Intelligence Service finds that it is necessary to intercept telephone conversations exclusively for issues related to the security of the Republic, within 72 hours at the latest, will inform the existing Three-Member Committee headed by a former judge. Also, the Parliament will proceed with the amendment of the legislation so that the chairman of the Three-Member Committee, which is appointed by the President of the Republic, is always a former president of a District Court, or a former judge of the Supreme or Constitutional Court. The amendment will explicitly state that the Commander of the KYP will receive the approval of this Committee before starting a phone tap.
Following this conclusion, the Committee will meet again in an extraordinary session on March 27 for final corrections of this bill, but also to complete the discussion of the other two bills concerning the way the surveillance will be carried out. All three bills will then be put to a vote in the last Plenary Session of the House.
Disagreements remain
The solution may have been found, but the objections of the AKEL MPs and some individual MPs do not seem to have been overcome by the regulation that is being promoted, which is why now everyone is counting and recounting the votes. For the approval of the bill concerning the amendment of the Constitution, 38 MPs are required. AKEL currently has 14 MPs, while independent MP Alexandra Attalidou and Ecologists MP Charalambos Theopemptou will certainly vote against the bill, while some MPs have not yet expressed themselves clearly. DISY and DIKO plus ELAM, DIPA and independent MP Irini Charalambidou agree with the arrangement that was made. Given these facts, bills can be narrowly approved, unless there are reversals at the last minute.
Audit by a Three-Member Committee and judicial safeguards for the Police and KYP
In his statements after the end of the session, the president of the Committee, Nikos Tornaritis, stated that all the guarantees and tools are given to the law enforcement agencies to deal with organized crime. As he said, the discussion went on two levels: The first concerns the Police and the right that will be given to them to monitor the phones of suspects after a court warrant precedes and the second, concerns the KYP related to the security of the Republic of Cyprus and the threats it receives, especially now in the critical environment we are going through.
Several opinions were heard, he stressed, and we came up with a proposal and expressed the hope that the revised text that will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the Committee on March 27, will be pre-approved and at the same time the two bills that will be complementary will be examined. The suggestion, as stated by Mr. Tornaritis, is that the Governor of the KYP will make the decision on the necessity of phone monitoring only in relation to the security of the state and within 72 hours at the latest he will inform the Three-Member Committee that controls the activities of the KYP. That is why the bill will provide that the president of this Committee will be either a retired president of a District Court, or a former president or judge of the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.
"I believe that if the Parliament votes in favour of this proposal, it will defend the security of citizens in the best way, legality, the rule of law, but also will set a safety net for Democracy itself. I call on all Members to put aside anything that exists in relation to objections, prejudices and philosophical theories. We have sensitivities about citizens' rights and in everything we put the Court first in terms of organized crime, paedophilia, etc. As far as terrorism is concerned, there was a differentiated proposal, but it also has all the safeguards it needs for the state to function", explained Mr. Tornaritis.
Regarding the removal of the Attorney General from the bill, Mr. Tornaritis stated that there was a proposal by the Ministry of Justice through which the Attorney General was indeed removed and three retired judges were proposed. After the discussion that took place in the Committee today (yesterday) essentially indirectly but clearly, this proposal was reconciled and instead of three retired judges, we ended up with the power for approval to have the Three-Member Committee. Finally, he said that a month before the elections, out of the 25 years of experience he gained, populism always had the first say in Parliament. In this session (yesterday) there was no populism and he expressed the hope that in the end the prejudices that exist from some will be removed and the legislation will be passed.
Charalambidou on the side of the judicial review
In her statements, MP Irini Charalambidou stated that these are issues related to the security of the state and stressed that she had reacted strongly to the report on the concession of power to the Attorney General. "While we are discussing the lifting of the uncontrolled, the separation of powers, we cannot give uncontrolled powers to the Prosecutor, which is why the relevant bill did not proceed to be put before the Plenary, obviously because it would be rejected. My suggestions were two: The first concerned the assumption of the responsibility of approval by a judge on the condition that the procedures through the registrar were bypassed to ensure confidentiality and especially for the speed of approval and the second suggestion was for three retired judges of the Supreme Court who would take over duties on a rotating basis and would have the power to give approval for the activities of the KYP. We concluded through the discussion that the power should remain in the existing Three-Member Committee, which is chaired by a former judge. These will be recorded in the Constitution and this change and the consultation that will exist with the Governor of the KYP will be mentioned in the amendment.
