Council Resolution of 17 January 1995 on the lawful interception of telecommunications
Date: 1995-01-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: fact-finding mission, information network, national law, protection of communications, protection of privacy, telecommunications













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31996G1104

Council Resolution of 17 January 1995 on the lawful interception of telecommunications  


Official Journal C 329 , 04/11/1996 P. 0001 - 0006 





COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 17 January 1995 on the lawful interception of  telecommunications (96/C 329/01) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Union, and in particular to Articles K.1 (9)  and K.2 (2) thereof, Reaffirming the need, when implementing telecommunications interception measures, to observe the  right of individuals to respect for their privacy as enshrined in the territorially applicable  national law, Aware of the fact that observing that right comes up against specific legal and technical  difficulties in view of technological developments, Determined to identify and overcome these difficulties in implementing the requirements set out in  the Annex while observing human rights and the principles of data protection, Whereas in the laws of the Member States possibilities are provided for restricting the secrecy of  communications and, under certain circumstances, intercepting telecommunications; Whereas the legally authorized interception of telecommunications is an important tool for the  protection of national interest, in particular national security and the investigation of serious  crime; Whereas interception may only be effected insofar as the necessary technical provisions have been  made; Whereas in accordance with a decision by the Trevi Ministers in December 1991 a study should be  made of the effects of legal, technical and market developments within the telecommunications  sector on the different interception possibilities and of what action should be taken to counter  the problems that have become apparent, HAS ADOPTED THIS RESOLUTION: 1. The Council notes that the requirements of Member States to enable them to conduct the lawful  interception of telecommunications, annexed to this Resolution ('the Requirements`), constitute an  important summary of the needs of the competent authorities for the technical implementation of  legally authorized interception in modern telecommunications systems. 2. The Council considers that the aforementioned Requirements should be taken into account in the  definition and implementation of measures which may affect the legally authorized interception of  telecommunications and requests Member States to call upon the Ministers responsible for  telecommunications to support this view and to cooperate with the Ministers responsible for Justice  and Home Affairs with the aim of implementing the Requirements in relation to network operators and  service providers. ANNEX REQUIREMENTS This section presents the Requirements of law enforcement agencies  relating to the lawful interception of telecommunications. These requirements are subject to  national law and should be interpreted in accordance with applicable national policies. Terms are defined in the attached glossary. 1. Law enforcement agencies require access to the entire telecommunications transmitted, or caused  to be transmitted, to and from the number or other identifier of the target service used by the  interception subject. Law enforcement agencies also require access to the call-associated data that  are generated to process the call. 1.1. Law enforcement agencies require access to all interception subjects operating temporarily or  permanently within a telecommunications system. 1.2. Law enforcement agencies require access in cases where the interception subject may be using  features to divert calls to other telecommunications services or terminal equipment, including  calls that traverse more than one network or are processed by more than one network  operator/service provider before completing. 1.3. Law enforcement agencies require that the telecommunications to and from a target service be  provided to the exclusion of any telecommunications that do not fall within the scope of the  interception authorization. 1.4. Law enforcement agencies require access to call associated data such as: 1.4.1. signalling of access ready status; 1.4.2. called party number for outgoing connections even if there is no successful connection  established; 1.4.3. calling party number for incoming connections even if there is no successful connection  established; 1.4.4. all signals emitted by the target, including post-connection dialled signals emitted to  activate features such as conference calling and call transfer; 1.4.5. beginning, end and duration of the connection; 1.4.6. actual destination and intermediate directory numbers if call has been diverted. 1.5. Law enforcement agencies require information on the most accurate geographical location known  to the network for mobile subscribers. 1.6. Law enforcement agencies require data on the specific services used by the interception  subject and the technical parameters for those types of communication. 2. Law enforcement agencies require a real-time, fulltime monitoring capability for the  interception of telecommunications. Call associated data should also be provided in real-time. If  call associated data cannot be made available in real time, law enforcement agencies require the  data to be available as soon as possible upon call termination. 3. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to provide one or several  interfaces from which the intercepted communications can be transmitted to the law enforcement  monitoring facility. These interfaces have to be commonly agreed on by the interception authorities  and the network operators/service providers. Other issues associated with these interfaces will be  handled according to accepted practices in individual countries. 3.1. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to provide call  associated data and call content from the target service in a way that allows for the accurate  correlation of call associated data with call content. 3.2. Law enforcement agencies require that the format for transmitting the intercepted  communications to the monitoring facility be a generally available format. This format will be  agreed upon on an individual country basis. 3.3. If network operators/service providers initiate encoding, compression or encryption of  telecommunications traffic, law enforcement agencies require the network operators/service  providers to provide intercepted communications en clair. 3.4. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to be able to transmit  the intercepted communications to the law enforcement monitoring facility via fixed or switched  connections. 3.5. Law enforcement agencies require that the transmission of the intercepted communications to  the monitoring facility meet applicable security requirements. 4. Law enforcement agencies require interceptions to be implemented so that neither the  interception target nor any other unauthorized person is aware of any changes made to fulfil the  interception order. In particular, the operation of the target service must appear unchanged to the  interception subject. 5. Law enforcement agencies require the interception to be designed and implemented to preclude  unauthorized or improper use and to safeguard the information related to the interception. 5.1. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to protect information on  which and how many interceptions are being or have been performed, and not disclose information on  how interceptions are carried out. 5.2. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to ensure that  intercepted communications are only transmitted to the monitoring agency specified in the  interception authorization. 5.3. According to national regulations, network operators/service providers could be obliged to  maintain an adequately protected record of activations of interceptions. 6. Based on a lawful inquiry and before implementation of the interception, law enforcement  agencies require: (1) the interception subject's identity, service number or other distinctive  identifier; (2) information on the services and features of the telecommunications system used by  the interception subject and delivered by network operators/service providers; and (3) information  on the technical parameters of the transmission to the law enforcement monitoring facility. 7. During the interception, law enforcement agencies may require information and/or assistance from  the network operators/service providers to ensure that the communications acquired at the  interception interface are those communications associated with the target service. The type of  information and/or assistance required will vary according to the accepted practices in individual  countries. 8. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to make provisions for  implementing a number of simultaneous intercepts. Multiple interceptions may be required for a  single target service to allow monitoring by more than one law enforcement agency. In this case,  network operators/service providers should take precautions to safeguard the identities of the  monitoring agencies and ensure the confidentiality of the investigations. The maximum number of  simultaneous interceptions for a given subscriber population will be in accordance with national  requirements. 9. Law enforcement agencies require network operators/service providers to implement interceptions  as quickly as possible (in urgent cases within a few hours or minutes). The response requirements  of law enforcement agencies will vary by country and by the type of target service to be  intercepted. 10. For the duration of the interception, law enforcement agencies require that the reliability of  the services supporting the interception at least equals the reliability of the target services  provided to the interception subject. Law enforcement agencies require the quality of service of  the intercepted transmissions forwarded to the monitoring facility to comply with the performance  standards of the network operators/service providers. GLOSSARY >TABLE>