The draft law amending Georgia’s procedure for the use of covert investigative measures was adopted in a hasty procedure and requires both impact assessment and more detailed justification, according to an urgent opinion from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission of legal and constitutional experts, the Commission said in a news release Friday.
"The opinion, published today, concludes that the overall oversight mechanism of secret surveillance measures in Georgia seems to be inadequate and there is a need for a comprehensive revision of existing covert surveillance systems.
The draft law on the Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on 7 June 2022. The amendments were subsequently vetoed by the President of Georgia, whose administration requested an urgent opinion from the Venice Commission on 1 July.
Today’s opinion stresses that freedom of communications and privacy are fundamental values in any liberal society. Covert surveillance measures should therefore be cautiously worded and narrowly interpreted by state agencies and the courts.
However, in this case, the opinion identifies shortcomings concerning the quality of the law-making process, the proposed list of crimes eligible for covert investigation, the duration of covert investigation measures, notifications about such measures and the systems of judicial control and institutional oversight.
In conclusion, the opinion recommends that:
- for the sake of a more transparent, rational and inclusive legislative process, it would be essential to have formal consultations with the relevant stakeholders and civil society before deciding on any draft bill in further legislative procedure;
- the draft law requires a convincing justification for extending the list of crimes eligible for investigation by covert measures, prolonging the overall duration of covert measures and relaxing rules regarding the notification of persons concerned by the used covert measures;
- the draft law shows the need for a comprehensive revision of the covert surveillance systems based on different legal regimes which, however, overlap on the technical level – such overlaps create a risk of abuse in the highly sensitive area of covert measures.
The opinion therefore recommends revising the overall legal framework for oversight of covert surveillance before embarking on discussions about the specific proposals contained in the draft law," the statement reads.
