BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
118. Pursuant to section 22, authorisation for the acquisition of
communications data from CSPs was granted by a “designated person”,
being a person holding such office, rank or position with relevant public
authorities as prescribed by an order made by the Secretary of State. The
designated person could either grant authorisation for persons within the
same “relevant public authority” as himself or herself to “engage in conduct
to which this Chapter applies” (authorisation under section 22(3)), or he or
she could, by notice to the CSP, require it either to disclose data already in
its possession, or to obtain and disclose data (notice under section 22(4)).
For the purposes of section 22(3), “relevant public authorities” included a
police force, the National Crime Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs, any of the intelligence services, and any such public authority as
could be specified by an order made by the Secretary of State.
119. Section 22(2) further provided that the designated person could
only grant an authorisation under section 22(3) or give a notice under
section 22(4) if he or she believed it was necessary for one of the following
grounds:
“(a)
in the interests of national security;
(b) for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime or of preventing
disorder;
(c)
in the interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom;
(d) in the interests of public safety;
(e)
for the purpose of protecting public health;
(f)
for the purpose of assessing or collecting any tax, duty, levy or other
imposition, contribution or charge payable to a government department;
(g) for the purpose, in an emergency, of preventing death or injury or any
damage to a person’s physical or mental health, or of mitigating any
injury or damage to a person’s physical or mental health; or
(h) for any purpose (not falling within paragraphs (a) to (g)) which is
specified for the purposes of this subsection by an order made by the
Secretary of State.”
120. He or she also had to believe that obtaining the data was
proportionate to what was sought to be achieved.
121. Chapter II of RIPA was supplemented by the Acquisition and
Disclosure of Communications Data: Code of Practice, issued under
section 71 of RIPA.
D. IPT practice and procedure
1. RIPA
122. The IPT was established under section 65(1) of RIPA to hear
allegations by citizens of wrongful interference with their communications
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