Prague - Czech police will have it much tougher from now on to wiretap phone calls.
Czech president Václav Klaus signed an amendment that makes rules for eavesdropping much stricter.
One of the rules is to inform the person subjected to this method of investigation. The person will be able file a complaint with a court to decide whether the eavesdropping had been legal or not.
Klaus has repeatedly claimed that the practice of wiretapping is used in an excessive and irresponsible manner by Czech police.
Judges asked to be more responsible
In past, Klaus´ s own phone calls may have been wiretapped by police, since Klaus talked to Czech politicians who had been eavesdropped by police because of the so-called Kubice affair.
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The proposal for changing the current legislature on criminal procedure has been raised by Minister of Justice Jiří Pospíšil who would like judges to adopt a more responsible attitude towards the issue and stop giving permissions for wiretapping indiscriminately.
Details necessary
The practice of district judges issuing permissions to police to wiretap a phone call remains, but the police will have to appeal to a regional court if they want to have the permission extended.
Moreover, the judges will have to be provided with more detailed information, such as the name of the person to be wiretapped and his or her role in the investigated case.
So far, the phone number was all that was necessary to apply for the right to wiretap a phone call.
Also, during the investigation police will be obliged to monitor whether the reasons for wiretapping are still relevant.
