Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries amended eavesdropping laws to comply with a ruling by the country's highest constitutional court that part of the legislation violates privacy rights.

German authorities will be banned from tapping private conversations by suspects, Zypries said when presenting the draft proposal at a legal conference in Bonn. Translators and officers will be required to ensure that any recording stops if the conversation becomes intimate, she said.

``The changes will probably lead to fewer cases in which we can use tapping methods,'' Zypries said.

Wire tapping was used in 36 criminal investigations last year, out of 4.6 million total probes, in cases involving murder and terrorism, the Justice Minister said. Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled in March that the 1998 law contravenes the constitution because it violates a person's right to have their privacy protected.

The constitutional court defined intimate conversations as those relating to ``core issues of a private life.'' Zypries said an example is a discussion about the relationship between a husband and wife.

Under the new rules, the police's ability to tap conversations will be limited to cases in which it can be assured that the people involved aren't engaged in an intimate conversation, Zypries said. They also can't eavesdrop on lawyers, journalists, auditors, doctors, members of the parliament and tax advisers, she said.

``The proposal will make it impossible in the future to eavesdrop on suspects,'' Norbert Roettgen, a legal expert for the opposition Christian Democratic Union, said in statement distributed at the conference. ``It weighs the privacy of highly dangerous criminals and terrorists higher than the protection of the population against severe crimes.''

The draft, which still needs parliament approval, will only apply to suspects linked to crimes punishable by at least 10 years in prison. The change will restrict the list of criminal acts covered and rules out cases such as fraud.

To contact the reporter on this story: Corinna Budras in Bonn at cbudras@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2004 10:58 EDT