On Thursday 1 July 2021, the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament) voted for the first time on the text of Bill 7498 amending a law aimed at regulating the use video surveillance by the Grand Ducal Police.
The bill passed with 52 votes from the coalition government parties and the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) from the opposition. The Left and the Pirate Party Mps voted against the bill, whilst the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) abstained from voting.
Bill 7498 specifies the conditions for setting up cameras, image processing and measures to protect citizens' rights. The police can only use video surveillance in places with particularly high crime rates and if other means to prevent criminal offences have proved ineffective.
The images obtained by the police using video surveillance are kept for a maximum period of two months, except in the event of a need for operation in the context of a preliminary investigation or a judicial investigation. Images of large-scale interventions can also be kept for analysis of the progress of the intervention or as part of the training of police officers.
The installation of surveillance cameras is done after request from the Director General of the Grand Ducal Police and after granting a ministerial authorisation which is valid for three years.
Bill 7498 also creates a new advisory commission, an independent police body whose mission is to issue an opinion for each authorisation request or request for the extension of an authorisation. The commission is composed of a representative of the Ministry of Internal Security, the General Police Inspectorate, the Ministry of the Interior, the Advisory Committee on Human Rights, the National Data Protection Commission, the National Committee for Social Defence and the Luxembourg criminology association (Association Luxembourgeoise de Criminologie Asbl), to ensure that different perspectives are represented.
