In light of recent criminal activities that have shaken public opinion in Cyprus, the Presidential House and the Minister of Justice are supporting efforts to ensure passage of the bill for calls and conversations surveillance. Therefore, technological innovations should be implemented to ensure crime prevention and policing.
According to Presidential House official sources, the Minister of Justice, Ionas Nicolaou, is rushed to take action in order to promote the passage of a surveillance bill for calls and conversations by the House of Representatives. It should also be noted that the bill was submitted to the House by the Ministry of Justice on 22/9/2017 but now, eight months later, is still pending.
At the same time, the proposed bill was promoted by the Minister of Justice to the leaders of political parties for evaluation, in an attempt to speed-up the voting process.
The Police as well as the Central Intelligence Service (KYP) who is directly accountable to the President of the Republic, have repeatedly called for the passing of the specific bill, considering it as a powerful weapon in their efforts to combat crime. Additionally, the content of call surveillance evidence may be presented before Justice to provide a full account of the illegal activities.
At the moment, Police cannot monitor and record conversations or calls of the crime suspects. However, with the passing of the bill, the police may request the prompt disclosure of suspicious activity reports in order to facilitate the investigation procedures.
