site.btaInspection Finds Special Surveillance Measures Documents Not Destroyed as Required

Documents containing results obtained through the use of special surveillance measures (SSMs) that should have been destroyed were instead attached to an operational case file, according to the National Special Intelligence Means Control Bureau annual report for 2025.

The violation was identified during an inspection at an Interior Ministry structure. The Interior Ministry leadership has been notified, while the Prosecutor's Office will also be informed.

The report says 49 complaints alleging unlawful use of SSMs were submitted in 2025. No cases of unlawful use were established during inspections completed that year. No such cases were found in 2024, while one case was identified in 2023.

The bureau reiterated its call for amendments to the Special Surveillance Means Act and the Criminal Procedure Code. It argued that the legislation should address the storage and destruction of evidentiary materials obtained through SSMs when they are not attached to pre-trial proceedings or have remained after the completion of court cases.

According to the report, courts received 4,315 requests for the use of SSMs in 2025, involving 2,442 individuals. The corresponding figure was 2,410 in 2024 and 2,493 in 2023.

Interior Ministry structures accounted for 63.06% of requests, followed by the Prosecution Service with 23.82% and the State Agency for National Security with 10.82%.

The number of urgent cases in which SSMs were used rose to 211 in 2025 from 187 a year earlier. Cases involving an imminent risk of a serious intentional crime or a threat to national security increased to 15 from 9 in 2024.

SSMs were most frequently used in investigations related to organized crime groups, narcotics offences, fraud, theft, customs violations, excisable goods offences, human trafficking and bribery, the report shows.