Legislation on lawful interception of postal packets in offing
A bill to enact legislation for the lawful interception of postal packets and telecommunication messages for the purpose of fighting crime and suppressing organised crime will be considered by Parliament in the course of next month.
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The bill, which is yet to be presented before the House, if passed, will empower the country's security agencies to intercept messages related to or linked to money laundering, terrorism, narcotic trafficking, identity theft and generally for the protection of national security.
Background
According to a memorandum to the bill, dated July 16, 2015 and signed by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, the issue of armed robbery, terrorism, money laundering and narcotic drug trafficking had become a real threat to public order, safety, and the well-being of individual citizens in Ghana, as well as in West Africa as a whole.
It said those activities were a threat to life and created disorder, fear and insecurity and also undermined the confidence of investors in the colony in which they took place.
"People involved in these activities rely on postal communication and information technology systems to escape the surveillance of law enforcement agencies," it said.
Clauses
The bill is divided into 21 clauses.
Clause one of the bill deals with the application of the law and provides that the interception of postal packets or a telephone message applied only to public postal services and public telecommunication services.
Clause two specifies the purpose for which the interception of postal packets, telephone or other electronic or cyberspace communication is legally permissible.
Some of the purposes are criminal investigation, suppression of organised crime such as money laundering and the protection of the security of the state.
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Clause three prohibits the interception of a postal packet, telephone or other electronic or cyberspace communication unless the interception is lawful and done in accordance with the Postal Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act, 2003 (Act 649) or the Act.
"Any person who intercepts a postal packet, telephone or other electronic or cyberspace communication without lawful authority commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of five thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years or to both the fine and imprisonment.
Clause four specifies the procedure for interception.
"Interception cannot be carried out legally unless a warrant is obtained for that purpose from a Justice of the High Court.
If a security, intelligence or law enforcement agency finds it necessary to intercept a postal packet, telephone or other electronic cyberspace communication, Clause five provides that the agency must apply to the National Security Coordinator to obtain a legal interception warrant from the High Court.
Clause six provides for receipt of application for authorisation while clauses seven and eight deal with conditions for which an interception warrant is to be granted in respect of criminal investigation and in circumstances where interception is in the interest of the security of the state.
Provision is made under clause nine for the contents of an interception warrant.
An interception warrant, according to the bill, was legal if it satisfied the conditions for the issue of the warrant, bore a date, stated whether the proposed interception was in relation to a postal packet, telephone or other electronic or cyberspace communication or a combination and specified the address of the person to whom the proposed interception related.
Clause 10 deals with unauthorised disclosure of the existence and contents of an interception warrant, among other matters.
"A person who discloses a matter that is to be kept secret or confidential as regards an interception warrant commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than five thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years or to both the fine and the imprisonment,” it said.