And in general manner, delivering its opinion on all
issues which are submitted to the commission by the
general director of the National Agency of Digital
Certification.
Art. 13 - The encryption commission shall be
chaired by the general director of the National Agency
of Digital Certification or his representative. It shall be
composed of :
- a representative of the Ministry of National
Defense,
- a representative of the Ministry of the Interior and
Local development,
- a representative of the Ministry of Communication
Technologies,
- a representative of the National Agency of Digital
Certification,
- a representative of the Center for Studies and
Researches of Telecommunications.
The commission members shall be appointed by a
decision of the Minister of Communication Technologies,
on a proposal from the concerned Ministries and
institutions.
The commission chairman may invite, for
consultative purpose, any person whose participation is
deemed helpful.
The commission shall meet on a call its chairman on
the basis of an agenda communicated to the members a
week at least before the commission meeting. The
commission may only meet in the presence of the
majority of its members, in case when the quorum in
not reached, the commission will held, after ten days, a
second meeting whatever the number of the present
members is. In all cases, the commission make its
decisions with the majority of the votes of the present
members, in case of a tied vote, the chairman has a
casting vote.
The commission works shall be recorded in minutes
communicated to its members within the ten days following
the date of the commission meeting.
Chapter six
The requirements of public security and national
defense
Art. 14 - The concerned departments of the
Ministries of National Defense and of the Interior and
Local Development, each in his respective capacity,
may consult all the documents relating to the electronic
equipments and systems imported and commercialized
allowing to encrypt the data exchanged through the
telecommunications networks or examine the said
equipments and systems.
N° 61
These operations may be carried out by the
declaring person or any other interested persons by
these equipments or systems as well as by any other
person holder of these equipments or systems because
of his professional activity or possessing the related
documents and data.
All the persons provided for by the precedent
paragraph shall present at first request from the
concerned departments of the Ministries of National
Defense and of the Interior and Local Development the
required documents and allow them to examine the
equipments and systems. They are also bound to
comply with the provisions which will be indicated to
them by these departments.
Chapter seven
The administrative sanctions
Art. 15 - In case of serious infraction of the
provisions of the decree herein, the Minister charged
of Telecommunications may pronounce the immediate
suspension of the authorization and the regularization
of the concerned offender situation within a deadline
not exceeding two months as of the date the
suspension.
Art. 16 - The encryption means of all categories
may be temporarily seized, without indemnity, by a
decision of the Minister of National Defense and the
Minister of the Interior and Local Development if it is
proven that the use of these means disrupt the national
defense and public security, and of the Minister of
Communication Technologies, if it is proven that the
use of these means disrupt the security of the
telecommunications networks.
Art. 17 - All the prior provisions contrary to the
provisions of the decree herein and notably the
provisions of decree n° 2001-2727 dated 20 November
2001,fixing the conditions and procedures of use of the
means or services of encryption through the
telecommunications networks, as well the exercise of
the related activities, as amended and completed by
decree n° 2007-1071 dated 2 May 2007 shall be
repealed.
Art. 18 - The Minister of National Defense, the
Minister of the Interior and Local Development, the
Minister of Communication Technologies, the Minister
of Finance and the Minister of Trade and Handicrafts,
each in his respective capacity, shall implement the
decree herein which shall be published in the Official
Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.
Tunis, 21 July 2008.
Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia — 29 July 2008
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Page 813