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Viewing cable 07DUSSELDORF37, CIVIL LIBERTIES ADVOCATE TO CHALLENGE EU DATA RETENTION LAW

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07DUSSELDORF37 2007-12-17 15:00 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Dusseldorf
VZCZCXRO3694
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDF #0037 3511500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171500Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0103
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0117
UNCLAS DUSSELDORF 000037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL PTER KPAO GM
SUBJECT: CIVIL LIBERTIES ADVOCATE TO CHALLENGE EU DATA RETENTION LAW 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified -- Not for Internet Distribution 
 
1.  (SBU) Former Federal Interior Minister Gerhart Baum (FDP) 
told Pol/Econ Off that he plans to challenge the German law that 
implements the EU data retention directive this coming January. 
The law itself extends the amount of time personal data can be 
kept and was approved on November 10, 2007, by the German 
Federal Parliament by amending existing legislation.  Baum said 
that he plans to lodge a constitutional complainant against the 
new law in the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe shortly 
after it goes into effect on January 1, 2008. 
 
2.  (SBU) This case will be the fourth civil liberties-related 
case Baum has brought before the Constitutional Court.  The 
first case resulted in a 2005 decision that allowed electronic 
surveillance in one's private home, but only under strict 
guidelines that one senior official at the Office of the 
Protection of the Constitution (OPC) described to us as, "too 
strict to be effective."  The second case resulted in a decision 
in 2006 that overturned the "2003 Air Security Act" which would 
have permitted the German airforce to shoot down hijacked 
planes.  Most recently, Baum has argued before the Court that an 
amendment of the OPC law in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) 
allowing online searches is unconstitutional.  A decision on 
this case is expected in February 2008. 
 
3.  (U)  Baum currently works as a lawyer in private practice in 
Cologne.  He was Federal Interior Minister of Germany from 
1978-1982.  At the time, he was the youngest Federal MOI to hold 
the position.  While still a member of the FDP, he is no longer 
active in politics. 
 
4.  (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
 
KRAFT