Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - 2016
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and their related communications data; and
the Secretary of State gives a certificate describing the intercepted material
and certifying that the Secretary of State considers that the examination of
this described material is necessary for one or more of the statutory purposes
(section 8(4)(b)) as mentioned in sections 5(3)(a), (b), or (c).
By virtue of section 8(5)(b), an interception warrant may also authorise other conduct
as described in section 5(6). Such conduct includes the interception of communications
not identified in the warrant, the interception of which is necessary in order to do what
the warrant expressly authorises. Therefore, a section 8(4) warrant can authorise the
interception of communications which are not external communications to the extent
that this is necessary in order to intercept the external communications to which the
warrant relates.
When conducting interception under a section 8(4) warrant, an intercepting agency must
use its knowledge of the way in which international communications are routed, combined
with regular surveys of relevant communications links, to identify those individual
communications bearers that are most likely to contain external communications that will
meet the descriptions of material certified by the Secretary of State under section 8(4).
It must also conduct the interception in ways that limit the collection of non-external
communications to the minimum level compatible with the objective of intercepting the
wanted external communications.
A section 8(4) warrant should contain the details required by paragraph 6.10 of the
Interception of Communications Code of Practice. The required details include:
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the background of the operation;
a description of the communications to be intercepted, details of the CSP(s)
and an assessment of the feasibility of the operation where this is relevant;
a description of the conduct to be authorised, which must be restricted to
the interception of external communications, or the conduct (including
the interception of other communications not specifically identified by the
warrant as foreseen under section 5(6)(a) of RIPA) necessary to carry out
what is authorised or required by the warrant, and the obtaining of related
communications data;
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 to what is sought to be
achieved by that conduct;
where an application is urgent, supporting justification;
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)-16(6)
of RIPA; and
an assurance that all intercepted material will be handled in accordance with
the safeguards required by section 15 and 16 of RIPA.
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