The process unfolding in the House of Representatives has now entered a race against time in order to secure the 38 votes needed to amend Article 17 of the Constitution, which would allow intervention in the right to respect and protection of the confidentiality of correspondence and all forms of communication.
Based on the positions expressed so far, and following strong objections to the provision empowering the head of the Intelligence Service (KYP) to authorise telephone surveillance in exceptional cases – subject to later review by a three‑member committee – it appeared unlikely that the bill would secure enough votes.
With the importance of passing the bill extensively explained during previous committee discussions, DISY MP and chair of the Legal Affairs Committee Nikos Tornaritis yesterday prepared an amendment, endorsed by the party’s parliamentary group, stipulating that surveillance warrants will be approved only by a court.
The amendment, drafted after the meeting of the DISY parliamentary group, will be circulated to the other parties. For this reason, an extraordinary session of the Legal Affairs Committee is scheduled for Thursday morning. If other parties agree, the amendment will be incorporated into the final text of the bill to be put before the plenum later that same afternoon. The meeting has been set for 8.30am, with the Attorney General, the Minister of Justice, the Deputy Attorney General, the Chief of Police, the head of KYP and the president of the Cyprus Bar Association invited to attend.
The DISY amendment
According to the amendment, “the procedure for lifting communication confidentiality without a court order, in the interest of preventing and combating activities in cases of imminent, serious and extraordinary danger or threat to the security and sovereignty of the Republic, is deleted, so that the proposed arrangements concern only the addition of further offences to the list of offences for which communication confidentiality may be lifted by judicial order.”
It is noted that even within DISY there had been disagreement with the original provision allowing surveillance to begin solely on the approval of the KYP director.
The decisions ahead
Thursday’s extraordinary committee meeting will be decisive. Beyond the DISY amendment, two additional issues are expected to become clear:
- Whether the parties that opposed empowering the KYP director — and have insisted that only a court should approve surveillance — will agree to the new proposal.
- Whether renewed discussion will arise, either at the suggestion of other parties or from the institutions attending the meeting.
The goal is to finalise the bill’s text and determine whether it can secure the necessary parliamentary majority.
The provision concerning KYP
During the most recent closed‑door session of the Legal Affairs Committee, the draft bill included a clause stating that “in exceptional cases of urgent necessity where there is no time to obtain written approval and immediate action is required, communication confidentiality may be lifted by decision of the KYP director, which must be submitted ex post, within 72 hours, to the three‑member committee for approval.”
MPs who opposed this provision expressed strong reservations, stressing that surveillance decisions would rest with a KYP director appointed by the President of the Republic, and oversight would also be exercised by a three‑member committee likewise appointed by the President. They argued that such a serious decision should not be taken by bodies lacking full institutional independence.
Defining the terms
The bill specifies what constitutes a “threat to the security and sovereignty of the Republic.” Specifically, it refers to:
a. A threat to the independence, territorial integrity, defence and national or state interests of the Republic.
b. A threat to the democratic order of the state.
c. A threat to the proper functioning of the Republic and/or to the safety, freedom and rights of citizens.
d. Terrorist threats, espionage, hybrid threats, organised crime, illegal migration, cyber threats and any other action that may lead to destabilisation of the state.
Expanded list of criminal offences
The bill also broadens the list of offences for which a surveillance order may be granted. The expanded categories include serious criminal offences such as attempted murder, trafficking of adults and minors, child pornography, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of children, terrorism, espionage, smuggling of migrants, and facilitation of illegal entry, passage or stay in the Republic.
Also included are offences committed online that carry a sentence of five years or more, money laundering offences, and possession of narcotics or psychotropic substances with intent to supply.