Human Security Act Print E-mail
 

Written by Philip James Tremedal, on 26-07-2007 10:14

Views : 751    

Favoured : 18

Published in : The News, Politics

Tags : REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9372, human security act, philippine congress, 13th congress, terrorism, firearms, fear, panic

Article Index
Human Security Act
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
SEC. 8. Formal Application for Judicial Authorization. – The written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals to track down, tap, listen to, intercept, and record communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or spoken or written words of any person suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism shall only be granted by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals upon an ex parte written application of a police or of a law enforcement official who has been duly authorized in writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council created in Section 53 of this Act to file such ex parte application, and upon examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and the witnesses he may produce to establish: (a) that there is probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the said crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism has been committed, or is being committed, or is about to be committed; (b) that there is probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that evidence, which is essential to the conviction of any charged or suspected person for, or to the solution or prevention of, any such crimes, will be obtained; and, (c) that there is no other effective means readily available for acquiring such evidence.


SEC. 9. Classification and Contents of the Order of the Court. – The written order granted by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals as well as its order, if any, to extend or renew the same, the original application of the applicant, including his application to extend or renew, if any, and the written authorizations of the Anti-Terrorism Council shall be deemed and are hereby declared as classified information: Provided, That the person being surveilled or whose communications, letters, papers, messages, conversations. Discussions, spoken or written words and effects have been monitored, listened to, bugged or recorded by law enforcement authorities has the right to be informed of the acts done by the law enforcement authorities in the premises or to challenge, if he or she intends to do so, the legality of the interference before the Court of Appeals which issued the written order. The written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals shall specify the following: (a) the identity, such as name and address, if known, of the charged or suspected person whose communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or spoken or written words are to be tracked down, tapped, listened to, intercepted, and recorded and, in the case of radio, electronic, or telephonic (whether wireless or otherwise) communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or spoken or written words, the electronic transmission systems or the telephone numbers to be tracked down, tapped, listened to, intercepted, and recorded and their locations or if the person suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism is not fully known, such person shall be subject to continuous surveillance provided there is a reasonable ground to do so; (b) the identity (name, address, and the police or law enforcement organization) of the police or of the law enforcement official, including the individual identity (names, addresses, and the police or law enforcement organization) of the members of his team, judicially authorized to track down, tap, listen to, intercept, and record the communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or spoken or written words; (c) the offense or offenses committed, or being committed, or sought to be prevented; and, (d) the length of time within which the authorization shall be used or carried out.


SEC. 10. Effective Period of Judicial Authorization. – Any authorization granted by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, pursuant to Sec. 9 (d) of this Act, shall only be effective for the length of time specified in the written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, which shall not exceed a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals by the applicant police or law enforcement official.
The authorizing division of the Court of Appeals may extend or renew the said authorization for another non-extendible period, which shall not exceed thirty (30) days from the expiration of the original period: Provided, That the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals is satisfied that such extension or renewal is in the public interest: and Provided, further, That the ex parte application for extension or renewal, which must be filed by the original applicant, has been duly authorized in writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council.
In case of death of the original applicant or in case he is physically disabled to file the application for extension or renewal, the one next in rank to the original applicant among the members of the team named in the original written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals shall file the application for extension or renewal: Provided, That, without prejudice to the liability of the police or law enforcement personnel under Section 20 hereof, the applicant police or law enforcement official shall have thirty (30) days after the termination of the period granted by the Court of Appeals as provided in the preceding paragraphs within which to file the appropriate case before the Public Prosecutor's Office for any violation of this Act.
If no case is filed within the thirty (30)-day period, the applicant police or law enforcement official shall immediately notify the person subject of the surveillance, interception and recording of the termination of the said surveillance, interception and recording. The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be imposed upon the applicant police or law enforcement official who fails to notify the person subject of the surveillance, monitoring, interception and recording as specified above.


SEC. 11. Custody of Intercepted and Recorded Communications. – All tapes, discs, and recordings made pursuant to the authorization of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, including all excerpts and summaries thereof as well as all written notes or memoranda made in connection therewith, shall, within forty-eight (48) hours after the expiration of the period fixed in the written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals or within forty-eight (48) hours after the expiration of any extension or renewal granted by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, be deposited with the authorizing Division of the Court of Appeals in a sealed envelope or sealed package, as the case may be, and shall be accompanied by a joint affidavit of the applicant police or law enforcement official and the members of his team.
In case of death of the applicant or in case he is physically disabled to execute the required affidavit, the one next in rank to the applicant among the members of the team named in the written order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals shall execute with the members of the team that required affidavit.
It shall be unlawful for any person, police officer or any custodian of the tapes, discs and recording, and their excerpts and summaries, written notes or memoranda to copy in whatever form, to remove, delete, expunge, incinerate, shred or destroy in any manner the items enumerated above in whole or in part under any pretext whatsoever.
Any person who removes, deletes, expunges incinerates, shreds or destroys the items enumerated above shall suffer a penalty of not less than six (6) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.


SEC. 12. Contents of Joint Affidavit. – The joint affidavit of the police or of the law enforcement official and the individual members of his team shall state: (a) the number of tapes, discs, and recordings that have been made, as well as the number of excerpts and summaries thereof and the number of written notes and memoranda, if any, made in connection therewith; (b) the dates and times covered by each of such tapes, discs, and recordings; (c) the number of tapes, discs, and recordings, as well as the number of excerpts and summaries thereof and the number of written notes and memoranda made in connection therewith that have been included in the deposit; and (d) the date of the original written authorization granted by the Anti-Terrorism Council to the applicant to file the ex parte application to conduct the tracking down, tapping, intercepting, and recording, as well as the date of any extension or renewal of the original written authority granted by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals.
The joint affidavit shall also certify under oath that no duplicates or copies of the whole or any part of any of such tapes, discs, and recordings, and that no duplicates or copies of the whole or any part of any of such excerpts, summaries, written notes, and memoranda, have been made, or, if made, that all such duplicates and copies are included in the sealed envelope or sealed package, as the case may be, deposited with the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals.
It shall be unlawful for any person, police or law enforcement official to omit or exclude from the joint affidavit any item or portion thereof mentioned in this Section.
Any person, police or law enforcement officer who violates any of the acts proscribed in the preceding paragraph shall suffer the penalty of not less than ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.




Last update : 04-08-2007 16:00

Quote this article Print Send to friend Related articles Save this to del.icio.us

Users' Comments  RSS feed comment
 

Average user rating

   (0 vote)

 

No comment posted

Add your comment



mXcomment 1.0.7 © 2007-2008 - visualclinic.fr
License Creative Commons - Some rights reserved
< Prev   Next >