Senate and President Bush Approve Controversial Cybercrimes Treaty

This has me somewhat concerned... which seems to be a normal state of being for me of late. Last month, the Senate ratified the European Council's Convention on Cybercrime.(1) At first glance this is a good thing. Crime is bad, right? And we want to prevent it, right?

Disturbingly, there is no dual criminality requirement within the mutual assistance provisions of the treaty.(2) Obviously, this sort of treaty is nearly useless without a mutual assistance clause. However, this treaty obligates the federal government to investigate (or allow the investigation of) Unites States citizens whether or not what they are being investigated for constitutes a crime in these United States.

This is very, very bad. Governments have a tendency to criminalize behavior that causes no actual harm to persons or property. When our government does that, we have recourse in the courts, which can overturn an unconstitutional law (for example, one that places an unreasonable restraint on liberty). When such a law is forced upon us through an international treaty, it circumvents the Constitution. There is no recourse.

In my opinion, every Senator who approved this treaty should be voted out of office this fall (should they be up for re-election). Yes, cybercrime is a real issue of concern to Americans. But a blanket promise of mutual assistance strips us of the basic protections of the Constitution. All law in the United States must derive from the Constitution or it is invalid. More and more, our Supreme Court(3), our Congress, and our President seem eager to replace the Constitutional law-making process with International law. This needs to stop. Now.



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(1) Council of Europe, ETS No. 185, Convention on Cybercrime, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/185.htm.
(2) McCullagh, Declan; and Broache, Anne. "Senate ratifies controversial cybercrime treaty," CNET News.com, 2006 August 4, para. 8, http://news.com.com/Senate+ratifies+controversial+cybercrime+treaty/2100-7348_3-6102354.html.
(3) The Sovereign Editor. "United States Supreme Court Bases Opinion on International Law, Violates Tenth Amendment," Sovereign Commentary, 2005 March 04, http://sovrealm.blogspot.com/2005/03/united-states-supreme-court-bases.html.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 2:12 PM

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