Dutch Minister of the Interior Ronald Plasterk confirmed last month that the Dutch Intelligence Service (AIVD) has for years been eavesdropping on the law firm Prakken d'Oliveira. This included communications which ''evidently were of no relevance for any AIVD inquiry.'' On the initiative of MEP Judith Sargentini of the GroenLinks party, the European Parliament discussed secret service surveillance of lawyers in the EU on January 13. According to Sargentini, tapping lawyers is detrimental to our rule of law and it violates our fundamental rights, such as the right to a fair trial.