Auf einer Konferenz in Rotterdam wurde vor Ende Mai eine “Charter for the Democratic Use of Video Surveillance†in European Cities” verabschiedet. Veranstaltet wurde die Tagung vom European Forum of Urban Safety. Ein Bericht von der Konferenz folgt laut Webseite noch. Die Charta ist dort aber als pdf verfügbar (es gibt sie auch in französisch).
Zum Sinn und Zweck dieser Charta erläutert Benjamin Goold (University of Vancouver) wie folgt:
What is the purpose of a charter?
Charters and codes of conduct are frequently referred to as forms of “soft law†or “informal†regulation, as they do not typically give rise to substantive legal rights or interests. It would be wrong, however, to assume that charters are not important forms of internal regulation. By providing a clear set of values and governing principles, they can play a pivotal role in shaping the organisational culture of CCTV schemes, and provide camera operators and scheme managers with goals that can be used to guide everyday decision-making. In addition, they can also serve as a benchmark against which the performance of a scheme can be measured, and provide the basis for more the development of detailed organisational and management guidelines.