Rama: No one can open your phone anymore without a court decision! Materials unrelated to the investigation will be destroyed

Prime Minister Edi Rama has presented some of the changes envisaged in the new Criminal Procedure Code package, emphasising privacy protection, strengthening the rights of defendants and respect for the presumption of innocence.

Rama declared that checks of electronic devices, including mobile phones, cannot be carried out without the relevant court authorisation.

According to him, in urgent cases defined by law, the action will subsequently be subject to judicial review. Likewise, any material taken from electronic devices that is unrelated to the investigation must be destroyed.

Another change concerns wiretaps, where Rama said that only the data and communications related to the object of the investigation should be examined.

The prime minister also announced that questioning and the main procedural actions will be recorded with sound and image.

Rama also addressed secret investigations, stressing that the person must have the right to be informed that a proceeding has been registered against them, while secret investigations must not become routine practice.

“Questioning and the main actions will be recorded with sound and image. If the state questions a person, it must show how it questioned them and how much it respected them. And it is written that statements obtained through pressure or violence are invalid. The fourth change comes as a necessity to protect private life in the technological age. Seizing a device can no longer be a way to see and read everything. A court decision is needed to open it… In urgent cases defined by law, the action is assessed by the court. Any material extracted that is unrelated to the investigation must be destroyed. The same applies to wiretaps: only what is related to the investigations should be examined. The person has the right to know that a proceeding has been registered against them. Secret investigations over time cannot be a routine in a state governed by the rule of law. Only cases with a real prospect will go to trial. The prosecutor must weigh the evidence, the charges and the defence. The sixth change matters because it takes the presumption of innocence outside the courtroom. A trial in the marketplace before the trial in the courtroom is not justice,” Rama said.