the interception and monitoring of telecommunications, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain informa…
(No. B/428) Mr A. Duval (Fourth Member for Port-Louis North & Montagne Longue) asked the Attorney-General whether, in regard to the interception and monitoring of telecommunications, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain information as to the number of Court Orders issued by the Supreme Court of Mauritius in relation thereto since January 2025 to date, indicating the – (a) number thereof executed, and (b) mechanism in place for the execution thereof.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the House would know, for a court order to be issued, there must be an application made for such a court order. And, in view of the subject matter of the question, it is clear that such court orders would only be applied for by investigative agencies. Now, the hon. Whip of the Opposition must know, as a law practitioner, that all such applications are usually made before the judge in Chambers, the more so ex parte so that it would be impossible for the information sought to be obtained. Furthermore, the question seeks to have information about operational issues at the level of investigative agencies like the police and the FCC and my view is that there is no ministerial responsibility to answer such a question as it relates to operational issues pertaining to these agencies. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the House may wish to note that by virtue of Section 161 of the FCC Act, no information relating to any investigation can be divulged and the exception provided for under the law would not apply to parliamentary questions. Moreover, it is worthy to mention, also, that under section 13(1) of the FCC Act, even the Parliamentary Committee which includes members of Parliament is precluded from seeking information regarding any investigation.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, my question relates to the functioning, the mechanism in place as to the implementation of Judges’ Order. As the Attorney General, can he enlighten us as to how, in practice, Judges’ Order is effectively adhered to by whichever institution that maybe when it comes to interference and the monitoring?
The answer remains the same; it is an operational issue and we are not going to divulge any information regarding operational issues at the level of investigative agencies. Le secret de l’instruction, M. le président, est d’une importance capitale.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I ask…
If you have a specific case, …
Yes, I am not going to argue with the hon. Attorney General and seek the answer that he is not going to give. However, what I am going to ask the hon. Attorney General is, I will refer him to the statement here made by the hon. Prime Minister with regard to acknowledging that there has been a monitoring of telephone conversation and that the said system had been shut down. That was the assurances given in this House during the answer to my own question in PQ B/6 dated 04 February 2025. In light of this, I would like to ask the hon. Attorney General, whether, yes or no, has the system been shut down and are Judges’ Orders thus being implemented or not in light of the statement?
There are two questions within one. I will answer the first part of it. The first part is whether the answer given by the hon. Prime Minister to PQ B/6 and thereafter PQ B/15 is still true today and the answer is yes.
The last question.
You have had enough.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, one last question?
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