The purpose of personal data protection is not only to protect the data of natural persons, but also to protect the fundamental freedoms and rights of the persons to whom that data belongs. Personal data should be protected by a variety of security measures against risks such as loss, unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure. Access to personal information should be restricted, except for the controllers who may process personal data without the consent of citizens in accordance with the law. Such an exception is made in the case of prevention, detection and prosecution of perpetrators of crimes, where the processing of personal data relating to crimes, penalties and security measures for committed crimes can be performed only by the competent state body in accordance with the law.
With a view to increase the protection of natural persons in the processing of their personal data in order to prevent crime and to detect and prosecute the perpetrators, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia prepares a Draft Law on Protection of Natural Persons in relation to the processing of personal data for prevention purposes, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or for the execution of criminal sanctions.
The purpose of the draft law is to harmonize the legislation of the Republic of Macedonia with the EU legislation, which in this case is done by transposing the EU Directive 2016/680 (Police Directive) in the national legislation.
Directive (EU) 2016/680 is an EU legislative act establishing the rules for the protection of persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the competent authorities for the purpose of preventing, investigating, detecting or prosecuting a crime or the execution of criminal sanctions and for the free movement of such data.
The Ministry of Justice considers that the harmonization of national legislation with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/680 is necessary in order to ensure European standards for the protection of the rights and freedoms of natural persons with regard to the protection of personal data processing as a fundamental right, as well as to establish a legal framework for the exchange of personal data between the competent authorities.
This draft law regulates issues related exclusively to the protection of personal data for the purpose of preventing, investigating, detecting or prosecuting crimes or the execution of criminal sanctions.
