Questionnaire Estonia
I.12 Which special investigation methods?
Neither the CCP nor any other legal act imposes on the police a duty to consult the prosecutor on the use of special investigative activities. Section 20 subs. 5 of GDPS only states that supervision over surveillance activities is performed by regional prosecutor’s office in whose jurisdiction the surveillance file is opened and Sect. 20 subs. 6 GDPS adds that supervision over exceptional surveillance activities is performed by prosecutors of the regional prosecutor’s office having acquired this right by written order of the Prosecutor General. In practice, the prosecutor usually becomes informed about these activities through the opening of a surveillance file and in cases where the police have to provide information in order to get the permission for a procedural act (e.g. permission for search). Hence, the prosecutor may obtain knowledge about surveillance activities by asking the police about them but in practice the prosecutors rarely use this possibility. Consequently, surveillance activities are the domain of the police.
