The Interception of Communications Act 2008 will be implemented shortly as Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee has signed an order appointing August 31 as the day on which the Legislation shall come into force.

The Interception of Communications Act 2008 will join the two telecommunications networks to deal with the issues regarding wiretapping of cell phones, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said in a release.

The Act shall come into force in respect of the provisions relating to the following telecommunications:

* Speech, music or other sounds and

* Data or text

The Act also makes provision for the Interception of Communication acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communication and the acquisition of means by which protected communications may be accessed and placed in an intelligible form and for connected purposes.

Section 3 (1), of the Act will prohibit the interception of communications but identifies the exceptions which are acceptable. These are where:

* The communication is intercepted in obedience to a warrant issued by a Judge;

* The communication is intercepted on the authority of a designated officer in the case of a national emergency or;

* In responding to a case where approval for a warrant is impossible having regard to the urgency of the case.

Section 3 (1) of the act states, that a person who initially intercepts a communication in a course of its transmission by means of telecommunication system commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $5M and imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.

The Ministry advised that where the Court convicts a person of illegal interception, any device used to intercept a communication will be forfeited and disposed of as the Court thinks fit.