23/05/2025 Standing Committee | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE has welcomed finalising the draft Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. Stressing the need for rapid and effective cross-border co-operation in the fight against transnational crime, the Assembly also underlined that such efforts “should respect human rights and the rule of law,” in particular the right to a fair trial and the right to respect for private life under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Approving the opinion based on a report by Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD), the Assembly noted that the updated Protocol responds to the evolving nature of crime and the movement of people across borders and new technological developments. It welcomed the modernisation of mutual legal assistance procedures through secure electronic communication, video hearings with appropriate safeguards, the use of technical recording devices in the territory of other Parties to the Protocol, and the possibility of requesting the interception of telecommunications.
At the same time, the Assembly voiced strong concerns over the growing use of intrusive surveillance technologies, including spyware. It highlighted the “significant shortcomings” in the regulation and oversight of state surveillance in many member states, which have already led to violations of the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Citing its previous findings (Resolution 2513 (2023) on Pegasus and similar spyware), the parliamentarians recalled that spyware “should be limited to exceptional situations, as a measure of last resort, and always under court supervision”.
In supporting the adoption of the draft Protocol, the Assembly called on member states to implement relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and to ensure that national frameworks for surveillance and spyware use include “minimum safeguards” identified by the Venice Commission.
It also urged the Committee of Ministers to accelerate work on a legally binding instrument on the acquisition, use, sale, and export of spyware, and to ensure that non-member states seeking to join the Protocol “ensure that their legislative framework on state surveillance and its implementation are compliant with international human rights standards”.