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KENNEDY v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
(c) in all other cases, ... the period of three months beginning with the day of the
warrant's issue or, in the case of a warrant that has been renewed, of its latest
renewal.”
51. Section 9(1)(b) provides that an interception warrant may be
renewed by the Secretary of State at any time before its expiry where he
believes that the warrant continues to be necessary on grounds falling within
section 5(3).
52. The Secretary of State is required under Section 9(3) to cancel an
interception warrant if he is satisfied that the warrant is no longer necessary
on grounds falling within section 5(3).
53. Section 10(2) imposes an obligation on the Secretary of State to
delete any factor set out in a schedule to an interception warrant which he
considers is no longer relevant for identifying communications which, in the
case of that warrant, are likely to be or to include communications from, or
intended for, the interception subject.
54. Paragraph 4.13 of the Code provides:
“The Secretary of State may renew a warrant at any point before its expiry date.
Applications for renewals must be made to the Secretary of State and should contain
an update of the matters outlined in paragraph 4.2 above. In particular, the applicant
should give an assessment of the value of interception to the operation to date and
explain why he considers that interception continues to be necessary for one or more
of the purposes in section 5(3).”
55. Paragraph 4.16 of the Code provides:
“The Secretary of State is under a duty to cancel an interception warrant if, at any
time before its expiry date, he is satisfied that the warrant is no longer necessary on
grounds falling within section 5(3) of the Act. Intercepting agencies will therefore
need to keep their warrants under continuous review. In practice, cancellation
instruments will be signed by a senior official on his behalf.”
e. Duty to keep records
56. Paragraph 4.18 of the Code imposes record-keeping obligations on
intercepting agencies and provides:
“The oversight regime allows the Interception of Communications Commissioner to
inspect the warrant application upon which the Secretary of State based his decision,
and the applicant may be required to justify the content. Each intercepting agency
should keep the following to be made available for scrutiny by the Commissioner as
he may require:
all applications made for warrants complying with section 8(l) and applications
made for the renewal of such warrants;
all warrants, and renewals and copies of schedule modifications (if any);
where any application is refused, the grounds for refusal as given by the
Secretary of State;