Seán Sherlock
Question:656. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Justice the status of legislation to bring the use of CCTV for Garda investigations into GDPR compliance. [24956/20]
View answerTuesday, 22 September 2020
Questions (656)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government approved the drafting of a General Scheme to provide for the use of body-worn cameras by An Garda Síochána last year in response to a recommendation of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It was decided that the use of body-worn cameras will form part of the wider Garda Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) management strategy to ensure a consistent and standardised approach to the management of all recordings for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences. This new legislation will deal with all instances of overt use of recording devices by members of the Gardaí.
The General Scheme is well advanced and many stakeholders have been consulted in the preparation of this draft legislation, including the Data Protection Commissioner, the Policing Authority, GSOC, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. It is intended to submit the draft scheme to Government by the end of October so that it may be published and sent for formal drafting by the Office of the Attorney General.
In relation to the issue of compliance with data protection law, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has responsibility for overseeing compliance with the provisions of the Data Protections Acts. The new legislation will not alter this position but is instead aimed at providing clear criteria and standards for the use of recording devices, including CCTV, by An Garda Síochána.
The Deputy may wish to note that community-based CCTV is currently governed by section 38(3)(c) of Garda Síochána Act 2005 and the Garda Síochána (CCTV) Order 2006. This legal framework requires that any proposed community CCTV scheme must:
- be approved by the local Joint Policing Committee,
- have the support of the relevant local authority, which must also act as data controller, and
- have the authorisation of the Garda Commissioner.
This is the legal basis for all community CCTV schemes, regardless of how they are funded. The Data Protection Commissioner has stated that GDPR is not a bar to the operation of these community CCTV schemes. Operational compliance with GDPR is a matter for each data controller.