Judgment Approved by the court for handing down.
Privacy International v Investigatory Powers Tribunal
information obtained ... and that any information obtained under
the warrant will be subject to those arrangements".
13.
From 25 September 2000, section 5(2)(b) was amended to substitute a requirement that
the Secretary of State must be satisfied that the taking of the action is proportionate to
what it seeks to achieve: this change was made by RIPA, which came into effect on 2
October 2000, the same day as the Human Rights Act.
14.
We set out the relevant provisions of sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Intelligence Services
Act 1994 as they were in force at the date of the Tribunal’s judgment on 12 February
2016 (there have been some amendments since that time, but they are not material to
the issues before us), omitting provisions relating to Scotland:- [emphasis added]
5 Warrants: general
(1) No entry on or interference with property or with wireless
telegraphy shall be unlawful if it is authorised by a warrant
issued by the Secretary of State under this section.
(2) The Secretary of State may, on an application made by . . .
GCHQ, issue a warrant under this section authorising the taking,
subject to subsection (3) below, of such action as is specified in
the warrant in respect of any property so specified or in respect
of wireless telegraphy so specified if the Secretary of State –
(a) thinks it necessary for the action to be taken for the purpose
of assisting
...
(iii) GCHQ in carrying out any function which falls within
section 3(J)(a) above; and
(b) is satisfied that the taking of the action is proportionate to
what the action seeks to achieve;
(c) is satisfied that satisfactory arrangements are in force
under section 2(2)(a) of the [Security Service Act 1989 ("the
1989 Act")] (duties of the Director-General of the Security
Service), section 2(2)(a) above or section 4(2)(a) above with
respect to the disclosure of information obtained by virtue of
this section and that any information obtained under the
warrant will be subject to those arrangements.
(2A) The matters to be taken into account in considering whether
the requirements of subsection (2)(a) and (b) are satisfied in the
case of any warrant shall include whether what it is thought
necessary to achieve by the conduct authorised by the warrant
could reasonably be achieved by other means.
(3) A warrant issued on the application of the Intelligence
Service or GCHQ for the purposes of the exercise of their