Databases and Criminal Procedures in Switzerland and Turkey with Regard to European Council’s Standards

Abstract

Databases are increasingly used by law enforcement to effectively investigate and prosecute criminal offences. The growing tendency and need for law enforcement to use big data is particularly challenging when the data is stored abroad. As law enforcement authorities’ coercive powers are limited to their national territories, the path to enhanced judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation is of paramount importance. With the increasing use of big data, personal data processing takes place when the concerned individuals whose data is actually being processed are absent. This raises issues related to data regulations and to the effectiveness of existing mechanisms of legal protection for data subjects. This article deals with concerns relating to privacy protection in the context of data retention and judicial data exchange in Europe. To this end, a comparative analysis of Swiss and Turkish legal frameworks with regard to the European Court of Human Right’s case law provides a useful tool in identifying the legal standards that can help strike a fair balance between legitimate interests in database use and personal privacy protection. The specifics of the interplay between the right to privacy and the prevention and combatting of crime in Swiss and Turkish cultures also creates a fertile ground to discuss the flaws in existing regulations.