LAB 6 - Prosecutor’s responses

19 November 2015 - 11.00-12.30 - Room 11, Palais de l'Europe, Interpretation: FR/EN/RU

What is the Prosecutor’s role in acknowledging and investigating mass surveillance and how useful is surveillance really for the prosecutor’s work of detecting criminals and terrorists?

Initiative 1

Investigation of mass surveillance and prosecution of cyber- crimes - Challenges or failed expectations?

Edward Snowdens disclosures, illegal wire taping of mobile-phones, not only used by politicians, and possible activities of secret services using methods of mass surveillance - the public called for a response through investigation and prosecution. On the other hand, investigation units stress the need to collect mass data-base to prohibit and detect criminals and terrorists. These two sides of the coin will be presented, enlightened and disussed.

Presenter(s)

Mr Harald RANGE, Germany, Former Attorney General of Germany

Mr. Harald Range was the Federal Public Prosecutor attached to the Federal High Court of Germany (2011-2015). He has been holding different positions in the prosecution services in the German land of Lower Saxony, including Prosecutor General and director of the criminal departement of the Ministry of Justice there. As Head of the Federal Public Prosecution he was responsible for the investigation in cases of Espionage and Terrorism and other severe crimes against state's interests. He was president of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) and is the German national representative in the CCPE.

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Discussants

Discussants are invited to take part in the Labs in order to share their experience with the presented democratic initiatives and try to bring broader perspectives to the following discussions.

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Mr Christoph PARTSCH, Germany, Lawyer specialised on freedom of information

Dr. Christoph Partsch studied law at Duke University School of Law and at Fuqua School of Business and of Law. He did his PhD on freedom of information with Professor Schmidt-Jortzig, former Minister of Justice, at Kiel University, Germany. From 1998 to 2002, he was Vice President and Legal Counsel of Holtzbrinck media group as well as Associate Director of Macmillan Ltd. London. Since 2011, Christoph Partsch is Lawyer of Confidence of the City of Berlin, an ombudsman-like position for whistleblowers in Berlin. He is currently representing the Society for Freedom of Information in a court case against the German Ministry of Justice concerning the files of the ‘netzpolitik.org’ case, concerning journalists of an online magazine who have been suspected of revealing state secrets and became subjects of a treason investigation. In addition, and among other cases, he is representing a journalist before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the question, whether journalist should be given the names of judges still active in the state of Brandenburg who have been working for the East German Secret Service

Moderator

Mr Alexander SEGER, Germany, Head of Cybercrime Division, Council of Europe

Alexander Seger has been with the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France) since 1999. He is Executive Secretary of the Committee of the Parties to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and heading the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for global capacity building on cybercrime. Before 1999, he was with what now is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna/Austria, Laos and Pakistan. Alexander Seger is from Germany and holds a PhD in political science, law and social anthropology after studies in Heidelberg, Bordeaux and Bonn.

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Cartoonist

Ms Aline ROLLIN