7
KLASS AND OTHERS v. GERMANY JUGDMENT
Measures ordered must be immediately discontinued once the required
conditions have ceased to exist or the measures themselves are no longer
necessary (Article 1 para. 7, sub-paragraph 2). The measures remain in force
for a maximum of three months and may be renewed only on fresh
application (Article 1 para. 5, sub-paragraph 3).
19. Under the terms of Article 1 para. 5, sub-paragraph 5, the person
concerned is not to be notified of the restrictions affecting him. However,
since the Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment of 15 December 1970
(see paragraph 11 above), the competent authority has to inform the person
concerned as soon as notification can be made without jeopardising the
purpose of the restriction. To this end, the Minister concerned considers ex
officio, immediately the measures have been discontinued or, if need be, at
regular intervals thereafter, whether the person concerned should be
notified. The Minister submits his decision for approval to the Commission
set up under the G 10 for the purpose of supervising its application
(hereinafter called "the G 10 Commission"). The G 10 Commission may
direct the Minister to inform the person concerned that he has been
subjected to surveillance measures.
20. Implementation of the measures ordered is supervised by an official
qualified for judicial office (Article 1 para. 7, sub-paragraph 1). This official
examines the information obtained in order to decide whether its use would
be compatible with the Act and whether it is relevant to the purpose of the
measure. He transmits to the competent authorities only information
satisfying these conditions and destroys any other intelligence that may
have been gathered.
The information and documents so obtained may not be used for other
ends and documents must be destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed
to achieve the required purpose (Article 1 para. 7 sub-paragraphs 3 and 4).
21. The competent Minister must, at least once every six months, report
to a Board consisting of five Members of Parliament on the application of
the G 10; the Members of Parliament are appointed by the Bundestag in
proportion to the parliamentary groupings, the opposition being represented
on the Board (Article 1 para. 9, sub-paragraph 1, of the G 10 and Rule 12 of
the Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag). In addition, the Minister is bound
every month to provide the G 10 Commission with an account of the
measures he has ordered (Article 1 para. 9). In practice and except in urgent
cases, the Minister seeks the prior consent of this Commission. The
Government, moreover, intend proposing to Parliament to amend the G 10
so as to make such prior consent obligatory.
The G 10 Commission decides, ex officio or on application by a person
believing himself to be under surveillance, on both the legality of and the
necessity for the measures; if it declares any measures to be illegal or
unnecessary, the Minister must terminate them immediately (Article 1 para.
9, sub-paragraph 2). Although not required by the Constitutional Court’s