recording and storage of telephone conversations

Summaries of judgments made in collaboration with the Portuguese judge and référendaire of the CJEU (Nuno Piçarra and Sophie Perez)

▪

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 16 February 2023, HYA and Others (Grounds for authorising telephone tapping), Case C-349/21, EU:C:2023:102.

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Telecommunications sector – Processing of personal data and the protection of privacy – Directive 2002/58/EC – Article 15(1) – Restriction of the confidentiality of electronic communications – Judicial decision authorising the interception, recording and storage of telephone conversations of persons suspected of having committed a serious intentional offence – Practice whereby the decision is drawn up in accordance with a pre-drafted template text that does not contain individualised reasons – Second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Obligation to state reasons

Facts

In 2017, the President of the Spetsializiran nakazatelen sad (Specialised Criminal Court, Bulgaria), based on reasoned, detailed and substantiated applications from the Spetsializirana prokuratura (Specialised Public Prosecutor’s Office, Bulgaria), authorised the telephone tapping of four individuals suspected of committing serious intentional crimes. In giving reasons for his decisions, the President followed the existing national judicial practice of using a pre-drafted template designed to cover all possible cases of authorisation, that did not contain individualised reasons and which, in essence, merely stated that the requirements of the national legislation on telephone tapping, referred to in the template, had been met, as well as the length of time during which the use of special investigative methods was authorised.

Continue reading →