Anniversary Year for European Criminal
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News Actualités / Kurzmeldungen resources, and expertise should be guar- anteed. The FRA paper is a valuable tool for public authorities when considering fundamental rights implications in their plans to use the new technology in real life. (CR) European Union* Reported by Thomas Wahl (TW) and Cornelia Riehle (CR) Area of Freedom, Security and Justice Lisbon Treaty: 10 Years Area of Foundations ly to raise fears of a strong power im- Freedom, Security and Justice balance between the state and the indi- On 1 December 2019, the new Euro- Fundamental Rights vidual and should therefore only be used pean Commission under the lead of its in exceptional cases, i.e., to combat ter- new President, Ms Ursula von der Ley- FRA Looks into Facial Recognition rorism or to detect missing persons and en, marked the tenth anniversary of the Technology victims of crime; entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. At the end of November 2019, FRA pub- The use of facial recognition technol- The 1st of December 2019 also marked lished a paper looking into the funda- ogy during demonstrations may prevent ten years of the integration of the former mental rights challenges involved when people from exercising their freedom intergovernmental cooperation scheme public authorities deploy live facial of assembly or association and should in justice and home affairs (the so-called recognition technology for law enforce- therefore be considered disproportionate third pillar of the Maastricht Treaty) into ment purposes. or unnecessary; a full-fledged EU policy with the aim of According to the paper, the following The risk of incorrectly flagging peo- establishing an area of freedom, security key aspects should be considered before ple must be kept to a minimum, and any- and justice. With the entry into force of deploying facial recognition technology one who is stopped as a result of facial the Lisbon Treaty, the EU Charter of in real life: recognition technology must be treated Fundamental Rights also became legally A clear and detailed legal framework in a dignified manner; binding. should regulate the use of facial recogni- Fundamental rights considerations, The last ten years brought about a tion technology and determine when the such as data protection or non-discrim- number of achievements in justice and processing of facial images is necessary ination requirements, should be neces- home affairs, e.g.: and proportionate; sary requirements in the procurement of Better connectivity of law enforce- The processing of facial images for facial recognition technology; ment authorities by means of the next verification purposes should be clearly Public authorities should obtain all generation of the Schengen Information distinguished from the processing of fa- necessary information from the industry System; cial images for identification purposes, to carry out a fundamental rights impact Increased efforts in the fight against as the risk of interference with funda- assessment of the application of facial crime, including sexual abuse and ex- mental rights is higher in cases of identi- recognition technology they aim to pro- fication, which therefore requires stricter cure and use; * If not stated otherwise, the news reported necessity and proportionality testing; Close monitoring by independent su- in the following sections cover the period Facial recognition technology is like- pervisory bodies with sufficient powers, 16 November – 31 December 2019. 226 | eucrim 4 / 2019 FOUNDatIONS ploitation of children, trafficking in hu- evidence in criminal matters (e-Evi- man beings, terrorism, and cybercrime; dence Regulation) and Directive on legal Publication “European Union Completion of the instruments on ju- representatives for gathering e-evidence Instruments in the Field of Criminal dicial cooperation in criminal matters, in criminal proceedings; Law and Related Texts” e.g., the European Investigation Order, Relevant funds (Justice Programme the European Protection Order, and the and the Rights and Values Programme); In December 2019, the Council Gen- eral Secretariat’s Criminal Law Team Regulation on Freezing and Confisca- Directive on the Protection of per- published a compendium of selected tion; sons reporting on breaches of Union law texts on legal instruments (106 texts) Improved data protection by means (Whistleblowing Directive). (TW) relevant for EU criminal law. It includes of the data protection law enforcement instruments adopted by the EU Institu- Directive (2016/680). tions on the following: On the occasion of the ceremony, Ur- Security Union Cooperation in criminal matters (in- cluding mutual recognition of judi- sula von der Leyen stated: cial decisions); “There could be no better day for the JHA Ministers Conclude Debate Instruments concerning substantive new College of Commissioners to begin on Future of EU Internal Security criminal law; our work than this anniversary. Starting The Finnish Council Presidency Extracts from the Treaties; today, we are the guardians of the Trea- summed up the outcome of discussions Agreements between the EU and ties, the custodians of the Lisbon spirit. on the EU’s way forward regarding in- third countries, such as those relat- I feel this responsibility. It is a respon- ternal security issues. The discussion ing to mutual legal assistance. sibility towards our predecessors, our was launched at the beginning of the In addition to an index, the publication founding fathers and mothers, and all Finnish Presidency in July 2019 (see also contains electronic bookmarks. By clicking on the links in the content that they have achieved. But it is also a eucrim 2/2019, p. 84). The final Presi- section, the reader quickly arrives responsibility towards our children. The dency report was discussed at the meet- at the text he/she is looking for. The responsibility to leave them a Union that ing of the Justice and Home Affairs electronic version of the book (PDF) is is stronger than the one we have inher- Ministers on 3 December 2019. The re- available free of charge via the Council website > Documents & Publications. ited.” (TW) flections detailed in the report contribute Hard copies are also available. (TW) to the implementation of the strategic Updates on Legislative JHA Items agenda 2019–2024 in the area of justice The Finnish Council Presidency updat- and home affairs. Future EU policy will ed the JHA Ministers about the progress concentrate on the following four issues: formation than ever before. Therefore, achieved on current legislative proposals Proactive approach to new technolo- the EU must ensure that information in the area of freedom, security and jus- gies: The EU needs an integrated and systems are supplied with high-quality, tice during its presidency at the Council comprehensive approach in this field. timely, and complete data and are used meeting on 2–3 December 2019. In the An innovation lab is to be established effectively. The EU must also develop area of home affairs, the proposals in- within Europol in order to assess the a clear vision on crime analysis; this clude: needs for new technologies and their includes the provision of sufficient hu- Regulation on preventing the dissem- risks to law enforcement and to promote man and financial resources to process ination of terrorist content online; communication with the industry and and analyse information. In addition, Home affairs funds (Asylum and Mi- academia. Law enforcement authorities the new EU interoperability framework gration Fund, Internal Security Fund, should be involved at an earlier stage must be used effectively, which neces- Border Management and Visa Instru- in the technological processes, which sitates appropriate and continuous train- ment Fund); mainly take place in universities and the ing for the end-users. ETIAS consequential amendments; private sector. Moreover, the EU should Multidisciplinary cross-border coop- Regulation on the False and Authen- take into account internal security and eration: The EU needs a horizontal, in- tic Documents Online (FADO) system; law enforcement interests in new legis- tegrated, and coherent approach towards Visa Information System (VIS) Reg- lation relating to new technologies. tackling the evolving, cross-cutting na- ulation; Effective information management: ture of security threats, such as CBRN Schengen Borders Code. Future law enforcement cooperation will weapons and hybrid activities. There- In the area of justice, progress on fol- increasingly be based on information fore, the EU must ensure multidiscipli- lowing files is reported (among others): systems and their interoperability. Law nary, operational cooperation that goes Regulation on European Production enforcement authorities will have access beyond cross-border law enforcement and Preservation Orders for electronic to a much larger volume of data and in- cooperation, thus also involving other eucrim 4 / 2019 | 227 NEWS – EuropEAN UNION authorities, such as civil protection ac- es the main challenges in home affairs Police cooperation; tors. It must also remove obstacles to op- policy at the regional level. In substance, Information exchange; erational cross-border cooperation, e.g., the declaration deals with two issues: 1) Cooperation in case of major events; differences in national decision-making human smuggling, borders, and secu- Witness protection; processes, legislation, and operating rity; 2) the functioning of the Dublin and The fight against drugs; models; differences in national data col- Schengen systems. Police