The Ministry of State has rejected the assertion of an article published on Luxemburger Wort’s online portal, wort.lu, regarding a security authorisation for a member of the diplomatic corps, in which it was said that the government had “overruled” alleged security concerns.
The article in question was removed from the site this morning according to the Ministry's statement, which refuted the presumption that the government, or the minister of state, could take an active part in the procedure and would have taken it, and pointed out that this is not the case and is contrary to the procedure laid down in the law of 15 June 2004 concerning the classification of evidence and safety authorisations.
Article 27 (2) of that Act provides that the prime minister can only refuse a security authorisation if a commission appointed for such a case, appointed on a permanent basis, has investigated and assessed the case and submitted an opinion to the prime minister. The statutory commission is composed of an official of the Ministry of State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.
“This is exactly what happened in this case,” said the statement.
In this case, the Ministry said the commission had concluded, after examining the situation, that the safety authorisation referred to above should be given. The Prime Minister followed this assessment and issued the security clearance accordingly.
It was also a misrepresentation, said the Ministry, where the article stated that the Prime Minister decided "in the last resort". There are no different instances or command powers in this procedure described by the law. It is always and in any case the minister of state who decides whether to grant a security authorisation or not.
