Storage and use of materials derived from communication control
Supreme Court judgment 17 June 2020, HR-2020-1263-A, (case no. 20-000924SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against judgment.
The State represented by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (The Office of the Attorney General represented by Tolle Stabell)
v.
A (Counsel Jørn Terje Kristensen)
Justices: Møse, Noer, Bergsjø, Høgetveit Berg, Thyness
The Public Prosecution Authority had decided to surrender transcripts of communication control that had been documented during an extensive hearing of a criminal case in the District Court, to the tax authorities. The judgment in the criminal case was final. The Supreme Court found like the Court of Appeal that the materials could not be surrendered. It was assumed that the rules in the Criminal Procedure Act on communication control as special rules prevailed over the provision in section 30 of the Police Register Act, and that the secrecy obligation under section 216i of the Criminal Procedure Act prevented the use of information derived from communication control for other purposes than what is set out in the provision. The request that the materials also be deleted was not heard. Section 216g of the Criminal Procedure Act must be interpreted to mean that materials derived from communication control and used as evidence in a criminal case may be stored in accordance with the rules applicable to other documents in the case. Dissenting votes 4-1.