Revision of the BKA Law is needed once more.
The Federal Constitutional Court has identified issues with certain powers granted to security agencies under the Criminal Police Act. Some of these powers, specifically those related to data collection and storage, were deemed partially unconstitutional by the court in Karlsruhe. The court's ruling stated that these powers infringe upon the right to informational self-determination, a fundamental right. One of the criticisms levied by the court was the secret monitoring of contacts of suspected individuals.
The non-profit organization, Society for Civil Liberties (GFF), had filed a constitutional complaint against various provisions of the 2017 revised Criminal Police Act. They sought clear constitutional guidelines for data collection and storage.
In 2016, the Federal Constitutional Court had already weighed in on the extensive powers of security agencies, finding some of them to be unconstitutional. As a result, the Criminal Police Act needed to be amended. The revised version went into effect in May 2018. However, the current regulations remain in place, contingent on certain court-imposed conditions, until the law is modified again. This revision must be accomplished by no later than July 2025.
The BKA (Federal Criminal Police Office) is currently operating under the revised Criminal Police Act, despite some parts of it being deemed partially unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court. The BKA's data collection and storage policies are under scrutiny due to potential infringements on informational self-determination, as criticized by the court.
