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Showing posts from March, 2009

sarkozy tightens screws on search warrants

. . . NEWS The Sarkozy administration has moved to further shut down active investigations in France. A draft law covering the 2009 – 2014 programme of military spending requires judges to request permission for searches that involve defence secrets, reports Le Monde newspaper. The bill provides for restricting access to locations “likely to harbour elements covered by the national defence" and "local private companies involved in research or defence". Currently, judges can go where they want and ask the Advisory Committee on National Defence Secrets (CCSDN) for declassification of documents, decided on a case-by-case basis. Under the new bill, the Ministry of Defence would issue search warrants. If the ministry gives the green light, the magistrate must make an appointment with the president of the CCSDN to accompany searches in these places. The magistrate is obliged under the bill to give written reasons for the search, and the documents sought. If adopted, this proce