Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2016 /
  • April /
  • German court: anti-terror laws partially unconstitutional

German court: anti-terror laws partially unconstitutional

20 April 2016

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

On 20 April, the German Constitutional Court declared in a landmark decision surveillance powers of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt - BKA) and provisions for information exchange partly unconstitutional.

The powers at stake were introduced in 2008 in order to expand the mandate of the BKA in the field counterterrorism. It authorised among others bugging of homes, online searches of computers and covert interception of communication for the purpose of preempting terrorism. Before, only German state police forces had the mandate of crime prevention. Therefore, critics feared the emergence of a German FBI. Although the constitutional court did not scrap the new powers at all, the judges limited their scope and called for precise regulation, the protection of intimate information, better oversight and more transparency.

Moreover, the judges limit both domestic and international information exchange by the BKA and call for adequate data protection standards in foreign non-EU countries as a prerequisite for data transfers by the BKA. The BKA Act is now to be revised in summer 2018 but is it clear that the decision of the Court is also a message to the intelligence agencies and their information sharing with the NSA and other partners.

See: German court: anti-terror laws partially unconstitutional (DW, link)

See Court Press release: Constitutional Complaints Against the Investigative Powers of the Federal Criminal Police Office for Fighting International Terrorism Partially Successful (link)

And: Decision (link, German)

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Refugee crisis: Statewatch: State of Play: Commission statistics

Next article 

EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 21 April, Luxembourg

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy