"The Court noted that interception of communications pursued the legitimate aims of the protection of national security and public safety, the prevention of crime and the protection of the economic well-being of the country. However, in view of the risk that a system of secret surveillance set up to protect national security might undermine or even destroy democracy under the cloak of defending it, the Court had to be satisfied that there were adequate and effective guarantees against abuse.
The Court concluded that the Russian legal provisions governing interception of communications did not provide for adequate and effective guarantees against arbitrariness and the risk of abuse which was inherent in any system of secret surveillance, and which was particularly high in a system such as in Russia where the secret services and the police had direct access, by technical means, to all mobile telephone communications." (Grand Chamber judgment Roman Zakharov v. Russia - system of secret interception of mobile telephone communications)