2013 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
The Inspectors concluded that vast majority of DPs were completing their
written considerations to a good or satisfactory standard. Where satisfactory
our inspectors highlighted to DPs, as a matter of good practice, how they
could further improve their considerations. In a number of public authorities
the DPs were not considering the applications in proper time. For a number
of reasons it is important for applications to be considered promptly, not least
because the necessity and proportionality justifications might become invalid
in the intervening period.
Overall there is good level of objectivity and independence in the approvals
process, or, where there was not, the individuals were acting for reasons of
urgency or security. In a minority of public authorities compliance issues were
identified in this area and recommendations resulted.
(4) Notices and Authorisations. The majority of the recommendations in this
category resulted from misunderstandings in the procedures surrounding
granting authorisations and giving notices. I have previously outlined that
notices and authorisations are the two methods of conduct to acquire
communications data. In certain instances our inspectors identified that
the course of conduct approved by the DP was not in the end the course of
conduct followed by the SPoC to acquire the data, or, that the correct legal
instrument was not served on the CSP to request disclosure of the data.
These are technical breaches of Part I Chapter II and the Code of Practice
and constitute recordable errors. The reason they are not reportable errors is
because the DPs had in fact approved the acquisition of the data as necessary
and proportionate and the public authority did not receive any data the
acquisition of which had not been approved.
4.43 At the end of each inspection, the individual public authority is given an overall
rating (good, satisfactory, poor). This rating is reached by considering the total number
of recommendations made, the severity of those recommendations, and whether those
recommendations had to be carried forward because they were not achieved from the
previous inspection. On the latter point, 95% of the public authorities inspected in 2013
had fully achieved all or the majority of the recommendations emanating from their
previous inspection.
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