A titkos információgyűjtés és titkos adatszerzés alapjogi követelményei és gyakorlati problémái, kitekintéssel a leplezett eszközök kérdéskörére

Nowadays, with technology, economies and societies evolving so rapidly, crimes have become more specialized, and so have the instruments used in criminal investigation. Use of these instruments can cause serious violation of human rights and also interfere with the privacy of those who are, in essence, not targeted by them. This essay aims to study the conditions under which secret information gathering tools may be legitimately used in a democratic constitutional state. The first part of the study contains various definitions relating to secret information gathering. The next part of the paper enumerates the human rights that collide with the instruments used for secret information gathering. To gain insight in these legal problems, the paper provides detailed information about the practices of the European Court of Human Rights and of the Constitutional Court of Hungary in this matter. The following part of the essay provides a detailed introspection into the regulations of secret information gathering and secret surveillance in Hungary aimed at combatting crime. The essay primarily uses the criminal procedure act and police act as the starting point, highlighting the lack of guarantees. In the course of this analysis, the essay studies a set of conditions and guarantees of these instruments from the human rights’ perspective as well. Finally, the last section describes the regulations of hidden instruments of the new Criminal Procedure Act and also provides additional recommendations concerning this topic