Cabinet approves phone-tapping bill

The cabinet approved legislation on Friday allowing the monitoring of telephone conversations, under strict oversight, to enable the police and intelligence services to employ phone tapping in their arsenal against organised crime.

President Nikos Christodoulides said the bill would provide law enforcement with “a necessary and proportionate” tool to tackle serious criminal activity and would be sent to parliament without delay.

Christodoulides said the decision honoured a clear government commitment to strengthen the state’s ability to combat organised crime while safeguarding fundamental rights.

“We are placing a powerful weapon in the hands of the authorities, always within strict legal conditions and judicial control,” he affirmed.

“The aim is crime prevention and the effective investigation of serious offences.”

The legislation allows for the monitoring of telephone communications only on the basis of a court warrant and only in cases involving serious crime or national security.

Authorisations would be limited in duration, targeted at specific individuals and subject to procedural safeguards to prevent abuse.

Following cabinet approval, the bill will now be forwarded to the House plenum.

Christodoulides said the legal framework had been refined to address technical and legal shortcomings that prevented similar legislation passed in 2020 from ever coming into force.

The justice ministry said the revised bill incorporates additional safeguards to ensure evidence gathered through surveillance can withstand judicial scrutiny.

A ministerial spokesperson said telephone monitoring “will contribute to crime prevention, but primarily to solving complex and serious cases that would otherwise remain unresolved”.

Although parliament adopted a phone-tapping law in 2020, it was never implemented.

The main obstacle at the time was the lack of technical capacity among telecommunications providers to enable lawful interception.

Officials also raised concerns that deficiencies in the warrant process could expose prosecutions to legal challenges, potentially undermining entire criminal cases.

Those technical hurdles have since been addressed.

Cyprus’s mobile phone providers, including Cyta, Cablenet, Epic and Primetel, have installed the required infrastructure and software, following consultations with the authorities.

According to the government, outstanding issues relating to data storage, retention periods and system access were resolved late last year.

Under the proposed framework, telecommunications companies will be legally obliged to provide immediate technical access to the police or the intelligence services (CIS) once a court warrant is issued.

Providers and their employees will also be required to take organisational and technical measures to ensure the confidentiality of communications that fall outside the scope of authorised surveillance.

The bill specifies that surveillance may only be authorised in investigations into a defined list of serious offences.

These include premeditated murder, manslaughter, corruption, terrorism, espionage, human trafficking, drug trafficking, child sexual exploitation material and money laundering.

Each request for monitoring will need to demonstrate necessity and proportionality and will be examined by a judge before approval.

Government sources said the legislation had been shaped by lessons drawn from recent criminal cases, including high-profile murders linked to organised crime networks.

Officials argue that modern criminal groups rely heavily on encrypted and mobile communications, making traditional investigative methods insufficient.

Christodoulides said the government was determined to ensure the law strikes the right balance.

“The protection of personal data and privacy is non-negotiable,” he affirmed.

“That is precisely why the framework is strict and limited to the most serious crimes.”

The bill also reflects concerns raised in the past by prosecutors and investigators about the admissibility of surveillance evidence.

To reduce the risk of cases collapsing in court, the procedures for requesting, granting and executing warrants have been tightened, with clearer lines of responsibility and documentation.

Despite these assurances, the move has previously attracted criticism from civil liberties groups, media organisations and digital rights advocates, who warn that expanded surveillance powers could chill freedom of expression and erode privacy if not rigorously controlled.

Government officials counter that the safeguards embedded in the bill meet constitutional requirements and are consistent with European legal standards.

A senior justice ministry official remarked the revised law was “far more robust” than the 2020 predecessor.

 “We took the time to fix what was wrong,” the official said.

“Without proper safeguards, surveillance evidence is useless. This framework is designed to protect investigations, defendants’ rights and the public interest.”

An oversight committee of MPs will additionally be formed to examine how data obtained through phone tapping will be stored, who will have access to it and when it must be destroyed.