Cypriot surveillance bill heads to parliament

Two controversial phone tapping bills are heading to the Cypriot House next month, giving law enforcement officials better tools to carry out covert surveillance but also providing more checks and balances.

The Judiciary House committee on legal affairs is expected to push forward the two surveillance bills, essentially amending current legislation that allows officers to carry out covert operations by tapping phones and monitoring private communication data of suspects.

The amended legislation, which has been the topic of many discussions in the last year, will expand the tools and scope of current regulations on surveillance by allowing officers to monitor conversations real-time and use high-tech software to give more tools to law enforcement.

At the same time, one of the two bills will require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant through a...