They are preparing dismissals by force of law for previous cases against police officers as well.

The amendments to the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, among other things, introduce new security obstacles, and as explained in the Government's statement, this was done with the aim of expanding the cases in which a police officer is considered to have obstacles to further work in the Police Directorate.

Amendment VII, which the Government adopted in a package with 12 others, also inserted new legal formulations for security obstructions: "makes unauthorized contacts with persons of operational interest", "maintains ties with persons who are reasonably suspected of belonging to certain criminal groups"...

The amendments expand the list of situations when there is a security impediment to further work, including - failure to obtain a security clearance, registration in the register of drug users or the presence of psychoactive substances, initiation of an investigation for serious criminal offenses with elements of organized crime and corruption, unauthorized disclosure of data...

The Government is thus regulating the manner of completing previous procedures that have not been legally completed before the law enters into force, in order to avoid a legal vacuum. This will mean that numerous procedures in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that have not been legally completed, if the Parliament adopts the proposed text today, will be completed according to the new rules.

The proponents state that the goal of the changes is to align with European standards and strengthen the integrity of the police service, while simultaneously specifying procedures and competencies in the security clearance system.

The Human Rights Action (HRA) warned this morning that these are actually operational, not legally precise, categories that are not subject to judicial review and that "may be based on unverified assessments and indications."

The government adopted 12 amendments yesterday, and as they announced, this was done after months of consultations with the European Commission, after which "the conditions were created for the implementation of the Directive relating to the GDPR, or personal data protection."

"The amendments fully enable the harmonization of the aforementioned legal solutions with the GDPR as an obligation in the part of closing negotiation chapters, in accordance with the request of the European Commission," the Government statement reads.

Amendment V to the Draft Law on Internal Affairs stipulates that the commission, without conducting disciplinary proceedings, may revoke an officer's police rank based on operational assessments, while Amendment X prescribes termination of employment if a medical examination "determines the presence of psychoactive substances" but also after an order is issued to conduct an investigation or initiate criminal proceedings for criminal offenses with elements of organized crime and corruption or for criminal offenses for which a penalty of over five years in prison is prescribed...

This amendment stipulates that employment shall be terminated by force of law if the employee has provided data and information, or provided access to data and information to other persons...

The HRA states in a statement that it is re-proposing a model that has been criticized before - a commission, appointed by the minister, can determine the existence of a "security obstacle" without an adversarial procedure, without clearly prescribed procedural rules, without an obligation to inform the police officer of the reasons and evidence on which it bases its decision, and without a real opportunity for him to dispute the allegations and present a defense. The absence of an obligation to explain and provide the factual and evidentiary basis for the decision makes the right to appeal and judicial protection essentially meaningless.

"Of particular concern is the new solution according to which the mere issuance of an order to conduct an investigation for certain criminal offenses (which in itself represents the moment of initiating criminal proceedings) automatically leads to the termination of employment. The investigation is initiated based on grounds of suspicion, not established guilt, and a significant number of proceedings are concluded without a conviction. Introducing a permanent consequence of termination of employment, before a final judgment, represents de facto punishment without a court decision and directly undermines the presumption of innocence, instead of, as has been the case until now, suspending the employee from duty until the proceedings are concluded," the HRA announced.

The amendments to the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs also introduce one of the key changes related to the polygraph. Such testing will be possible only with the prior written consent of the police officer, and refusal will no longer constitute a serious breach of official duty.

It also introduces the obligation of periodic security checks of all police officers once every five years. This proposal represents a systemic strengthening of supervision.