MALONE v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT
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(ii) that warrants were not applied for save in proper cases and were not
continued any longer than was necessary to carry out their legitimate
purpose.
Lord Diplock further found from his examination of the system that all
products of interception not directly relevant to the purpose for which the
warrant was granted were speedily destroyed and that such material as was
directly relevant to that purpose was given no wider circulation than was
essential for carrying it out.
In early 1982, Lord Diplock submitted his second report. As the
Secretary of State informed Parliament, Lord Diplock’s general conclusion
was that during the year 1981 the procedure for the interception of
communications had continued to work satisfactorily and the principles set
out in the White Paper had been conscientiously observed by all
departments concerned.
In 1982, Lord Diplock resigned his position and was succeeded by Lord
Bridge of Harwich, a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary since 1980.
G. "Metering"
56. The process known as "metering" involves the use of a device called
a meter check printer which registers the numbers dialled on a particular
telephone and the time and duration of each call. It is a process which was
designed by the Post Office for its own purposes as the corporation
responsible for the provision of telephone services. Those purposes include
ensuring that the subscriber is correctly charged, investigating complaints of
poor quality service and checking possible abuse of the telephone service.
When "metering" a telephone, the Post Office - now British
Telecommunications (see paragraph 23 above) - makes use only of signals
sent to itself.
In the case of the Post Office, the Crown does not require the keeping of
records of this kind but, if the records are kept, the Post Office may be
compelled to produce them in evidence in civil or criminal cases in the
ordinary way, namely by means of a subpoena duces tecum. In this respect
the position of the Post Office does not differ from that of any other party
holding relevant records as, for instance, a banker. Neither the police nor the
Crown are empowered to direct or compel the production of the Post Office
records otherwise than by the normal means.
However, the Post Office do on occasions make and provide such
records at the request of the police if the information is essential to police
enquiries in relation to serious crime and cannot be obtained from other
sources. This practice has been made public in answer to parliamentary
questions on more than one occasion (see, for example, the statement by the
Home Secretary to Parliament, Hansard, House of Commons, 23 February
1978, cols. 760-761).