THE ISSUE OF SURVEILLANCE IS CLARIFIED TODAY IN THE LEGAL COMMITTEE - Filenews 27/3 by Michalis Chatzivasilis
The fate of the three bills, which will allow the interception of telephone conversations by the Police and the KYP, is finally clarified today before the Legal Committee of the Parliament. The conclusion reached last week seems to be sealed today and as it is estimated, the amendment of Article 17 of the Constitution to allow the violation of privacy under conditions, will be approved, even marginally.
The initial provision such as the Attorney General gives the Governor of the KYP written approval to start phone tapping, has been abandoned, after the refusal, except for the AKEL MPs and individual MPs to vote for it.
The formula that is now on the table and seems to be promoted before the Plenary, is that the KYP in exceptional cases concerning the security of the Republic, will address within 24 hours from the start of surveillance in case of an immediate threat to the security of the state, to the Three-Member Committee which controls its work and will be approved. Then, if it is found that a criminal case arises for some, then a request will be submitted for the issuance of a court order, so that the monitored person has the right to challenge it in the future.
38 MPs are needed to pass the bill. MP Irini Charalambidou and the individual socialist MP, Kostis Efstathiou, seem to agree with this conclusion. On the contrary, MP Alexandra Attalidou will not vote for this bill, while a question mark remains what the MP of the Ecologists, Charalambos Theopemptou, who from the beginning had spoken out against this provision, will do.
At the same time, the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs today in its extraordinary session will continue the examination of the two other bills concerning the modernization of the KYP and the way (technically) the interception of telephone conversations will be carried out. In these bills there are provisions for severe penalties both for those who carry out illegal surveillance, then state officials and employees of telecommunications service providers. These two bills do not seem to have a problem to be approved by the Parliament, since a simple majority is needed.
Update - After several sessions, discussions upon discussions and consultations, the formula for the critical issue of interception of telephone conversations in cases concerning the security of the state was finally found in Parliament.
As agreed in a closed extraordinary meeting of the Legal Committee, the Governor of the K.Y.P. will decide in emergency cases to start surveillance and if deemed necessary, he will apply within 72 hours to the Three-Member Committee that already controls the work of the Service, for approval for the continuation of the surveillance.
This formula was formulated today and is the third solution promoted after the removal of the Attorney General and the immediate notification of the Three-Member Committee. Essentially, with the new proposal, the Governor of the KYP will give instructions for the start of monitoring and if there is a need to continue it, he will ask for the approval of the Committee.
All parties agree with the new amendment except AKEL and individual MPs. The new amendment will be forwarded before the Plenary Session of the Parliament on April 2, while an effort is being made like the other two implemented bills to be promoted for the last session of the Parliament.
