| Abstract: | In recent years we have witnessed a high number of high-profile media cases heard in courts, where there have been considerable skepticism and stirring doubts on frequent basis about the work of the criminal police, especially as far as the illegally obtained, important operational data, which are thereafter used as the basis for the implementation of covert measures, surveillance and other investigation techniques, is concerned. The latter might consequently also represent an unfair and unlawful interference with human rights. Moreover, in the above mentioned high-profile cases we often hear about numerous illegal activities of the criminal police taking place during the data collection phase when gathering operational data, related to telecommunications and other means, used by the suspects prior to the implementation of all the covert investigative measures that are approved after issuing an order by the competent investigating judge or a prosecutor. In such cases, we can often even during the court proceedings hear about defense appeals based on which it is stated that the police has used a special technique - IMSI CATCHER in order to obtain data related to the telecommunication devices. With the use of the device in question the police is able to obtain relevant and necessary information in relation to the user of a specific telecommunication device - the mobile telephone. Furthermore, in such cases, the defense advocates the illegal use of the device in question, which is owned by the police, and according to the data, gathered by the media, and based on the notices, obtained from the information commissioner, it is believed that the police occasionally uses it. The use of the above mentioned device in order to gather data about a particular telecommunication device has not been legally defined yet, however, it has been mentioned in the recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act (ZKP-M), but the latter is still pending at the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
Based on the above mentioned, we will try in the herewith thesis to find out whether the police actually uses the above mentioned device illegally, and if it, at the same time, willfully violates the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. What is more, we will also try to define the dividing line between a legally permitted use of the device known as the IMSI catcher, required when investigating the biggest and worst crime cases, when searching for both missing persons and runaway prisoners, and legally admissible conversation and communication privacy of all the citizens who find themselves at the same time and at the same place where the IMSI catcher is also in use. |
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