Interception warrants have to be authorised personally by a Secretary of State (sections
5(1) and 7(1)(a)). They must sign the warrant personally, or in urgent cases verbally
authorise the issue of a warrant signed by a senior official (section 7(1)(b)).
In practice, four Secretaries of State and one Scottish Minister consider most of the
interception warrants. They are:
•
•
•
•
•
the Defence Secretary;
the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary;
the Home Secretary;
the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; and
the Cabinet Secretary for Justice for Scotland22.
Statutory purposes. The Secretary of State may not issue an interception warrant unless
he or she believes that it is necessary:
•
•
•
•
in the interests of national security;
for the purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime;23
for the purpose, in circumstances appearing to the Secretary of State to be
relevant to the interests of national security,24 of safeguarding the economic
well-being of the United Kingdom; or
for the purpose, in circumstances equivalent to those in which the Secretary
of State would issue a serious crime warrant, of implementing an international
mutual assistance agreement (section 5(3)).
These statutory purposes are taken directly from Article 8 of the European Convention on
Human Rights. To issue an interception warrant for any other purpose would be unlawful.
It is part of my function to ensure that all warrants are issued for these statutory purposes
only.
Proportionality. The Secretary of State may not issue an interception warrant unless they
believe that the conduct authorised by the warrant is proportionate to what is sought to
be achieved by that conduct.
Proportionality is an important principle in human rights jurisprudence that runs throughout
RIPA and its application. Every application for an interception warrant must explicitly
address necessity and proportionality. Secretaries of State have to address proportionality
when deciding whether to issue an interception warrant. In considering proportionality, the
22 Interception warrants to prevent or detect serious crime may be authorised by Scottish Ministers, under
the Scotland Act 1998. In this report references to the “Secretary of State” should be read as including
Scottish Ministers where appropriate. The functions of the Scottish Ministers also cover renewal and
cancellation arrangements.
23 Section 81(3) of the Act defines “serious crime” as a crime for which an adult first-time offender could
reasonably expect a sentence of three years’ custody or more, or which involves the use of violence,
substantial financial gain or conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose.
24 As amended by Section 3 of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA) 2014.
www.iocco-uk.info
33