New criminal law 2025: Judge permit for cell phones & laptops!

New criminal law 2025: Judge permit for cell phones & laptops!

A dramatic change in the judicial system is imminent! From January 1, 2025, the law enforcement agencies in Austria must obtain a judicial approval to ensure data carriers, such as smartphones and laptops. This important decision was made as part of a new guideline and aims to protect the rights of the accused and to protect data protection. In accordance with the new regulations that were decided according to a judgment of the Constitutional Court (VfGH), securing without judicial approval is no longer permitted, since access to personal data has been classified as unconstitutional, so vienna.at .

new standards in data protection

The VfGH decided that ensuring mobile phones without prior judicial permit violates the data protection law and the right to private life. This is due to a case of a Carinthian entrepreneur who was examined for suspicion of infidelity. The previous provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Paragraph 110 and others were considered incompatible with the fundamental rights. The interference with privacy is so serious that it can only be justified in serious crimes, which made the revision of the legal basics necessary, such as vfgh.gv.at reported.

Exceptions to this regulation is only available in the event of an acute danger where subsequent approval can be requested. In addition, the data types and the period that are affected must be determined in the judicial permit. This is intended to ensure that the public prosecutor only works with the necessary, specifically defined information and minimize random finds. It is also expected that the rights of accused and victims, such as inspection of the files, will be strengthened from the first activity of the law enforcement authorities.

Overall, this fundamental new regulation will significantly change the procedure of the security authorities in data backup and redesign the corresponding framework conditions for data protection in criminal law.