Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - March 2015
not identified in the warrant whose interception is necessary in order to do what the
warrant expressly authorises.
6.26 An application for a section 8(4) warrant should contain the details required by
paragraph 5.2 of the code of practice. The required details include:
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the background of the operation;
a description of the communications to be intercepted;
a description of the conduct to be authorised, which must be restricted to the
interception of external communications, or to conduct necessary in order to
intercept those external communications, where appropriate;
the certificate that will regulate examination of intercepted material;
an explanation of why the interception is necessary under section 5(3);
an explanation of why the conduct is proportionate;
a consideration of any unusual degree of collateral intrusion and why that
intrusion is justified in the circumstances, not least if the communications
might be privileged or confidential;
an assurance that intercepted material will be read, looked at or listened to
only so far as it is certified, and it meets the conditions of sections 16(2) to
16(6) of RIPA 2000; and
an assurance that all intercepted material will be handled in accordance with
the safeguards required by section 15 and 16 of RIPA 2000.
6.27 The intercepted material which may be examined in consequence is limited to
that described in a certificate issued by the Secretary of State. The examination has to be
certified as necessary for a Chapter I of Part I RIPA 2000 statutory purpose. Examination
of material for any other purpose would be unlawful.
6.28 Safeguards. These apply to all interception warrants. Section 15(2) strictly
controls the disclosure and/or copying of intercepted material, requiring it to be limited
to the minimum necessary for the authorised purposes. All intercepted material must be
handled in accordance with safeguards which the Secretary of State has approved under
RIPA 2000. Section 15(3) requires that every copy of intercepted material and any related
communications data are destroyed as soon as there are no longer grounds for retaining
it for any of the authorised purposes.
6.29 Additional safeguards for section 8(4) interception warrants. There are
extra safeguards in section 16 for section 8(4) warrants and certificates. The section 8(4)
intercepted material may only be examined to the extent that its examination:
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6.30
has been certified as necessary for a Chapter I of Part I statutory purpose, and
does not relate to the content of communications of an individual who is
known to be for the time being in the British Islands.
Thus a section 8(4) warrant does not generally permit communications of
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