In 2009 Brussels passed the EU Directive 2006/24/EC that obliged its 28 member states to introduce a data retention system. Many countries already have national laws concerning the storage of telephone and Internet data to prevent (organized) crimes and terrorism. Hence, the EU Directive was thought to harmonize national legislation given the retention duration and easy data exchange.
Germany was a particular case in so far as in 2010, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Court) declared our national law on data retention unconstitutional. The old Black-Yellow coalition was unable to consent to new legislation. So this became a task for the new Black-Red coalition following our general election in the fall of last year.
While the CDU-Innenminister (secretary of interior) wanted to jump on the project immediately, the SPD-Justizminister (secretary of justice) put the brakes on it. He proposed to wait until the European Court of Justice had decided about the lawsuit of Irish civil rights activists and the Carinthian government (Austria) against Directive 2006/24/EC. The Court's verdict came on April 8, 2014: The present Directive violates basic civil rights and therefore is null and void.
Was our minister of justice right to postpone new German legislation on data retention?
No, says the minister of interior, for the Court decision does not concern existing national laws. Germany needs new legislation immediately, a law that must be wise, constitutional, and have a majority appeal.
Yes, the minister of justice answers, "We are not in a hurry. Now we know what our Federal and the European Court might accept such that we likely are to get our new national legislation to conform to their decisions."
Politics!
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Was our minister of justice right to postpone new German legislation on data retention?
No, says the minister of interior, for the Court decision does not concern existing national laws. Germany needs new legislation immediately, a law that must be wise, constitutional, and have a majority appeal.
Yes, the minister of justice answers, "We are not in a hurry. Now we know what our Federal and the European Court might accept such that we likely are to get our new national legislation to conform to their decisions."
Politics!
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| The new one billion Euro building complex of Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND in Berlin., I call it Mini-NSA) (©dapd) |
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