Unconstitutionality of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 62/2019. Citizens' Rights, Liberties of all Buyers of Prepaid Phone Cards
Keywords:
Electronic communications, national system for emergency calls, citizens' rights, freedoms and duties, cell-ID localization method, collecting identification data, right to intimate, family and private life, article 8 of the Convention for the Protection.Abstract
The Romanian Ombudsman has notified the Constitutional Court over a recent emergency ordinance of the government (Government Emergency Ordinance no. 62/2019) which changed the legislation emergency calls and electronic communications, the institution announced on Thursday. The executive order forced all buyers of prepaid phone cards to present their IDs upon acquisition.
The Ombdusman said it found that the ordinance was breaching citizens' rights, liberties and duties and the initiator had to provide better motivation, proof of extraordinary circumstances that would match the restraining of rights.
The ordinance was published last week. It says prepaid cards would not be sold unless ID is provided when purchased starting January 1, 2020, while those who already hold such phone cards would no longer benefit of services starting September 1, 2020 unless they provide their personal data. The data would be stored by the state's special telecoms service STS for 5 years. The ordinance also introduces much bigger fines for false alarm to emergency phone number 112 starting next month.
The changes were hastened in the wake of a major criminal case in which a kidnapped teenager was murdered in the southern town of Caracal this summer, despite her calling to the emergency number repeatedly to call for help. The case was mostly blamed on the incapacity of authorities to react in due time and efficient manner.
References
Government Emergency Ordinance no. 62/2019 for amending and completing the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2008 regarding the organization and functioning of the single national system for emergency calls and for completing the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011 regarding electronic communications, published in the Official Gazette, Part I, with no. 725 of September 3, 2019
Decision no. 1.189 / 2008, the Constitutional Court established the constitutional meaning of the verb "to affect", stating that the legal meaning of the notion, under different shades, would be: "to suppress", "to prejudice", "to prejudice", "to harm" "," to injure "," to have negative consequences ". Thus, according to the case law of the Constitutional Court, from the interpretation of Article 115 paragraph (6) of the Constitution it can be deduced that in the field of regulation of fundamental rights, freedoms and duties, the ordinances of urgency cannot be adopted if it "affects", if they have negative consequences, but instead, they can be adopted if, by the regulations they contain, they have positive consequences in the areas in which they intervene.
Decision no. 461/2014 of the Constitutional Court was admitted the objection of unconstitutionality of the Law for amending and completing the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011, as a whole.
Regulation no. 679/2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46 / EC
Directive 2002/58 / EC on the processing of personal data and the protection of confidentiality in the public communications sector.
Decision of 5 September 2019 in Case C-417/18, '' Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 2002/22 / EC - Universal Service and Rights to users regarding electronic communications networks and services - Article 26 (5) - Unique European number for emergency calls - Provision of information regarding the caller's location ”
Decision of 11 September 2008, Commission / Lithuania, C-274/07, EU: C: 2008: 497, paragraph 40
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
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