Commission Spéciale de Sécurité Nationale (supervision of the processing of personal data for national security purposes)

Sovereign Order no. 11.138 of 6 March 2025 (JDM no. 8737 of 7 March 2025) appoints the members of the Special National Security Commission (CSSN) which succeeds the "Article 16 Commission", responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions of Articles 9 to 15 of Law no. 1.430 of 13 July 2016 on various measures relating to the preservation of national security:

• one full member and two alternate members proposed by the Council of State, Chairman (5 years);
• the President of the Parliament (Conseil National) as a full member and the Vice-President of the Parliament and the President of the Finance and National Economy Committee as alternate members (1 year renewable).

The judge of freedoms ("juge des libertés") is also a member of the Special Commission.

Law no. 1.565 of 3 December 2024 on the protection of personal data established the CSSN to supervise personal data processing activities for national security purposes by strengthening its guarantees of independence and impartiality, in accordance with the requirements of Convention 108+ of the Council of Europe, including the Additional Protocol concerning supervisory authorities and transborder data flows (ETS no. 181), ratified by Monaco on 6 March 2025.

CCSN control activities

The CCSN monitors the implementation of intelligence techniques and the use of national security files, and the declassification of all or part of a document or file protected as a national security secret is subject to its opinion.

It verifies that personal data is collected and processed in compliance with the provisions of Framework Law no. 1.565 of 4 December 2024 on the protection of personal data, and to this end may access data from processing operations concerning national security, subject to the requirements of the protection of sources and the protection of data communicated by foreign intelligence services.

If irregularities are detected, the Chairman of the CCSN shall refer the matter to the Minister of State so that he may take all measures to put an end to them or to remove their effects.

Subject to the provisions on national security confidentiality, the CCSN reports publicly and periodically on its control activities.

Rights exercisable with the CCSN

In the case of processing linked to intelligence activities or special investigative techniques of interest to national security, any person with a direct and personal interest has rights of access, rectification (inaccurate or incomplete data) and erasure in the event of an obvious error.

The said person may therefore submit to the CCSN a request for verification of whether his or her data is being processed, or a request for rectification or deletion of his or her data, together with any relevant supporting documentation.

If the CCSN considers that the request for rectification or deletion can be granted, its Chairman shall refer the matter to the Minister of State so that he may take all necessary measures to do so.

The CCSN notifies the person concerned as soon as possible that the necessary checks have been carried out, without ever confirming or denying the implementation of an administrative police operation covered by articles 9 to 15 of Law no. 1.430 (interception of correspondence sent by electronic communications and administrative access to connection data, special investigative techniques) or a processing operation instituted under article 18 (national security secrets).

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The three supervisory authorities for personal data processing in Monaco

Conventional legal framework (Convention 108+)

Article 15 of Convention 108+ allows States Parties to establish one or more independent supervisory authorities (collegiate body or not) to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data, and to limit their competence to a given sector.

Article 11 of Convention 108+ allows exceptions to the powers of supervisory authorities "when such an exception is provided for by law, respects the essence of the fundamental rights and freedoms and constitutes a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society for: a. the protection of national security, defense, public safety, important economic and financial interests of the State, the impartiality and independence of the judiciary or the prevention, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences and the execution of criminal penalties, and other essential objectives of general public interest;".

This is without prejudice to the requirement that such activities be subject to effective independent control and supervision under national law.

A certain margin of discretion is thus granted to the States Parties as to the manner in which these authorities are set up and the extent of their powers.

The Monegasque legal framework (Law no. 1.565 of 4 December 2024)

Monaco has chosen to set up three supervisory authorities in the field of personal data protection:

1. Autorité de Protection des Données Personnelles (APDP), the Personal Data Protection Authority responsible for controlling and verifying that personal data is processed in compliance with the legislative and regulatory provisions in force regarding the protection of personal data, with the exception of the following specific processing operations:
2. Commission Spéciale de Sécurité Nationale (CSSN) resented above, for processing related to intelligence activities or special investigation techniques of interest to national security falling under Articles 9 to 15 and 18 of Law no. 1.430 of 13 July 2016 ;
3. Délégué Judiciaire à la Protection des données (Judicial Data Protection Delegate) for processing carried out by the courts and the public prosecutor's office in the exercise of their jurisdictional functions as well as those carried out in the context of international mutual legal assistance procedures.

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