6
KENNEDY v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
3. The Complainant seeks a final order prohibiting the agencies from intercepting
any communication by him in the course of its transmission by means of a
telecommunications system or retaining or otherwise processing the product of any
such interception except on the grounds and subject to the procedure provided by
RIPA Part I.
4. He also seeks an order requiring the destruction of any product of such
interception held by each respondent, whether or not obtained pursuant to any warrant
or authorisation; and an award of compensation under s 67(7) RIPA and/or damages
sustained by the Complainant in consequence of the matters complained of.”
18. The ruling dealt with a number of matters relating to the extent of its
jurisdiction in respect of the applicant's complaints relating to conduct prior
to the entry into force of RIPA.
19. Following its ruling of 9 December 2004, the IPT proceeded to
examine the applicant's specific complaints in private.
20. On 17 January 2005, the IPT notified the applicant that no
determination had been made in his favour in respect of his complaints. This
meant either that there had been no interception or that any interception
which took place was lawful.
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE
A. Applicable legislation
1. Subject access requests under the Data Protection Act (“DPA”)
1998
21. Section 7(1) DPA grants individuals the right to request details of
any information about them held by persons or organisations which record,
store, or process personal data.
22. Under section 28 DPA, personal data is exempt from disclosure
under section 7(1) if an exemption is required for the purpose of
safeguarding national security.
2. The Human Rights Act 1998
23. The HRA incorporates the Convention into United Kingdom law.
Section 6(1) provides that it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a
way which is incompatible with a Convention right, except where it is
constrained to act in that way as a result of primary legislation which cannot
be interpreted so as to be compatible with Convention rights. Under
section 7(1), a person claiming that a public authority has acted unlawfully
under section 6(1) may bring proceedings against it in the appropriate court
or rely on the Convention right in any legal proceedings.