05. Jun 08

 

Cabinet adopts amendment to BKA Act

 

 

 

“The draft legislation adopted by the Federal Cabinet today (4 June 08) represents 
a key building block in the security architecture of the Federal Republic of Germany.
As promised in the coalition agreement, we are giving the Federal Criminal Police 
Office the powers it needs to fight international terrorism,” the Federal Minister of 
the Interior, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, said in Berlin after the Cabinet meeting.

 

 

 

“As part of the first phase of reforming our federalist system, a constitutional 
amendment gave the Federal Criminal Police Office [BKA] the task of preventing 
threats arising from international terrorism. The BKA must have the necessary 
powers to carry out this task. The draft legislation adopted today adds to the Act on
the Federal Criminal Police Office [BKAG] all the tools the BKA needs for its new 
task of preventing threats arising from international terrorism.”

 

 

In accordance with Germany’s constitution, the proposed legislation limits the BKA’s
authority in cases of international terrorist threat to those cases which extend 
across state borders, those in which no state police force has jurisdiction, and those
which the highest state authority asks it to take on. The BKA’s involvement will not 
affect the powers of the German states. To coordinate measures, the BKA will be 
required to keep the responsible state and federal authorities informed without 
delay and to work in consultation with them. “This is an enhancement in harmony 
with the federalist nature of law on threat prevention,” the Federal Minister 
stressed.

 

  

 

Federal Minister Schäuble added:

 

 

“The individual powers are largely modelled on existing regulations in the Act on 
the Federal Police and state laws on the state police forces. So I found the public 
debates in recent weeks somewhat odd, for example concerning the rules on visual 
surveillance in homes – rules which are already included in the state police laws as 
a general measure of threat prevention, whereas the BKA may use it only to 
prevent threats from international terrorism.

 

 

 

“A new measure that deserves special mention is the power to conduct remote 
searches of computer hard drives. Here, the BKA will be permitted, under certain 
strict conditions, to use technical means, that is, special software programmes, to 
collect data from information technology systems in order to prevent terrorist 
threats and related crimes. After the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that such a 
measure does not violate our constitution, this power makes sure that the BKA can 
keep up with terrorists using the latest information technologies. I see this as 
significant progress.

 

 

 

“The proposed legislation is of course in line with the Basic Law and agrees with the 
rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court, in particular its latest rulings [on 
surveillance of private homes, preventive telecommunications surveillance, remote 
searches of computer hard drives and the temporary order on preventive data 
retention]. The proposed legislation therefore contains specific rules to protect the 
inviolable core of the private sphere and persons entitled to refuse to give 
evidence, as well as reporting requirements.

 

 

 

“In my view, the Federal Government has presented a balanced draft which will put 
the BKA in a position to effectively perform its duty of preventing the threat of 
international terrorism.”

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Cabinet decision opens the way for parliamentary debate on the proposed 
amendment to the Act on the Federal Criminal Police Office.