Submitted text
According to statistics of the service ÜPF, retroactive surveillance measures (VDS) were ordered 6918 times in 2012.
- How many of the 6918 VDS surveillances were presented as evidence in court, admitted, and resulted in final convictions?
- In how many cases (actual or estimated) would retroactive monitoring measures have been necessary beyond six months and for what reasons?
- On average, how soon after the start of an investigation is retained data accessed?
Response of the Federal Council
It is not possible to say exactly how many of the retroactively ordered surveillance measures were used as evidence in court, as the prosecution authorities do not keep statistics on this. However, the experience of the prosecution authorities and their statements at the hearing before the commissions for legal issues during the preliminary deliberations on the Büpf revision show that in the case of the majority of retroactive surveillance measures, they obtain information that is of great importance in the criminal investigation. In proceedings concerning narcotics offenses, for example, it is mostly a matter of identifying business partners as possible accomplices. Here, the success rate is very high according to the prosecution authorities. The same applies to homicide and robbery. Here, the question is whether the suspect was at the scene of the crime at the time of the crime. If this is not the case, however, this is a “success” for the investigating authorities insofar as the suspect can be excluded as the perpetrator. The current time limit of six months is too short, especially when dealing with individual offenses that require long-term investigations. This is typically the case in the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking or terrorism, as well as in the prosecution of serious violent and sexual offenses such as human trafficking and child pornography. The same applies to proceedings that are opened on the basis of foreign leads. Such information usually arrives with a considerable time delay. It is not possible to say in general how soon after the start of an investigation retroactive surveillance will be ordered. This depends largely on the offense and the status of the proceedings.