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Deutsch: Irland: Keine wirksamen Sanktionen gegen polizeilichen Missbrauch von ...
Recent media reports have confirmed that an Irish Garda (Police) detective sergeant will not face criminal prosecution and will keep her job despite abusing the data retention system to spy on an ex-boyfriend.
In November 2010 the annual report of the judge who oversees the Irish data retention system confirmed media reports that the sergeant, who then worked in the Garda intelligence division, had abused her position by accessing the phone records of her former boyfriend, tracking details of his communications. It appears that this came to light when the former boyfriend became suspicious that she knew about calls which he had made since they separated, and not as the result of any internal audit or other safeguards. Following a Garda investigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that no criminal charges will be brought against the sergeant, and after an internal disciplinary process she will retain her job. Despite this abuse of trust, the sergeant has been transferred to the Garda Special Branch, an anti-terrorist division within the police force, where she will continue to have access to sensitive information.
The matter was also referred to the independent Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission which decided not to investigate the matter further.
A number of significant questions are left unanswered. In relation to the specific case: Why was no prosecution brought? Why was it considered appropriate to leave a person found to have abused sensitive records in a position of responsibility, much less the Special Branch? Why was this person not dismissed?
More general questions are also raised: Was this part of a wider pattern of abuse? Is there an adequate internal audit trail of data retention requests? If so, who is responsible for reviewing that trail? Does the designated judge access a sample of requests from the preceding year to ensure that the surveillance was appropriate? If not, what other steps are taken to review the approximately 15 000 data retention requests which are made every year?
Given the lack of adequate sanctions for this abuse and the failure of either the designated judge or the Department of Justice to provide answers to these questions it is hard to see how the Irish public can be expected to have any confidence in the data retention system.
Report of the Designated Judge (26.01.2010)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58099350/Interception-and-Data-Retention-Ann...
Judge's report reveals allegations that Garda used phone records to spy on
her ex (20.02.2011)
http://www.tjmcintyre.com/2011/02/judges-report-reveals-allegations-th...
Garda detective quizzed for 'spying on her ex', Mail on Sunday, (27.06.2011) Garda accused of bugging her ex-boyfriend, The Sunday Times, (20.02.2011) Garda who spied on her boyfriend will keep job, The Sunday Times, (14.08.2011)
(Contribution by TJ McIntyre - EDRi-member Digital Rights Ireland)