Criminal Procedure Code, Rama: Wiretaps restricted and privacy protection strengthened. Biological samples and genetic profiles, by court decision

Prime Minister Edi Rama has presented some of the proposed changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, focusing on wiretaps, genetic data and the way criminal proceedings are registered. Rama said that, under the proposed changes, only communications related to the criminal offence should be transcribed in wiretaps, including those in favour of the person under investigation.

“Wiretaps: only the communications related to the offence should be transcribed, including those in favour of the person. People’s private lives, with no connection to the criminal offence, cannot be turned into usable material as an instrument of pressure or as a media consumption product,” Rama said.

The prime minister also addressed the taking of biological samples and the storage of genetic profiles. According to him, these matters will be regulated fully for the first time, requiring informed consent or a court decision, the presence of defence counsel and the destruction of the data after a final acquittal.

“The taking of biological samples and the storage of genetic profiles are also being regulated fully for the first time, with informed consent or a court decision, with the presence of defence counsel and mandatory destruction after a final acquittal,” Rama said.

The prime minister stressed that another change aims to give an investigation a verifiable start, a clear object and a defined end. “The fifth change gives the investigation a verifiable start, a clear object and an end; the proceeding must be registered on the day the prosecutor learns of the offence, not when he deems it appropriate,” the prime minister declared. According to Rama, the person must be informed that a proceeding has been registered against them and be able to ask the court to verify the registration date. “And if another offence emerges during the investigation, it must be registered as such,” he stressed.