The Romanian Constitutional Court has ruled that Romania's national implementation of European Union's Data Retention Directive is unconstitutional. The law was found to violate article 28 from the country's Constitution, pertaining to the secrecy of communication.

According to the European Union Directive 2006/24/EC, all member states must make sure that telecommunication providers operating within their borders retain data that can be used to identify communications for a period between six months and two years. More specifically, the retained information must identify the source, destination, time and duration of a communication, as well as the type and location of the equipment used.

Romania's implementation of this Directive 2006/24/EC resulted in Law 298/2008, which applies to landline, mobile and Internet-based telephone services, as well as email communication. Back in February, the Civil Society Commissariat (CSC) filed a civil lawsuit against telecommunications provider Orange, seeking an order that would force it to honor its contracts which guarantee the confidentiality of phone conversations.

During the trial, the CSC lawyers argued that Law 298/2008 violates several civil rights and freedoms, including the secrecy of communication, the right to a private life, the right to move freely and the freedom of speech. "This act seriously affects the citizens, because it allows everyone to be treated as a criminal. […] It is an affront to the dignity of the Romanian people. It's an abusive law which violates constitutional rights guaranteed by the Romanian state," said Ioan Prodan, CSC's general commissioner [translated from Romanian].

The trial was subsequently suspended and the issue was brought to the attention of the Romanian Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that the data retention law violates articles 28, 25, 26 and 30 of the Romanian Constitution. Article 28 in particular reads "The secrecy of letters, telegrams, and other postal communications, of telephone conversations, and of any other legal means of communication is inviolable."

It is also worth noting that in February, the Pro Democracy Association, the Media Monitoring Agency, the Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania, the Centre for Legal Resources, the Center for Independent Journalism, the Assistance Center for Nongovernmental Organizations and the Civil Society Development Foundation jointly sent a letter to the Romanian People's Advocate, in which they requested that the Constitutional Court be notified that Law 298/2008 limits the citizens' constitutional rights. The Ombudsman declined to honor the request and argued that the law does not violate any articles from the Constitution.