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CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
124. Consequently, the Court finds that the law indicates the scope of
mandating and performing signals intelligence conferred on the competent
authorities and the manner of its exercise with sufficient clarity.
(iii) Duration of secret surveillance measures
(α) The parties’ submissions
125. The applicant submitted that the legislation satisfied the minimum
requirements in terms of duration of the permit.
126. The Government held that the Signals Intelligence Act clearly
regulated the maximum duration of a permit and the conditions under which
a permit could be renewed.
(β) The Court’s assessment
127. The Court has held that it is not unreasonable to leave the overall
duration of interception to the discretion of the relevant domestic authorities
which have competence to issue and renew interception warrants, provided
that adequate safeguards exist, such as a clear indication in the domestic law
of the period after which an interception warrant will expire, the conditions
under which a warrant can be renewed and the circumstances in which it
must be cancelled (see Roman Zakharov, cited above, § 250).
128. As regards the first two safeguards, the Signals Intelligence Act
stipulates that a permit may be granted for a maximum of six months and
that it may be extended, following a new examination, for six months at a
time (see paragraph 23 above). The examination preceding a renewal must
be understood as encompassing a full review by the Foreign Intelligence
Court as to whether the conditions set out in section 5 of the Act are still
met (paragraph 19). The Act thus gives clear indications of the period after
which the permit will expire and of the conditions under which it can be
renewed.
129. In respect of the third safeguard, the circumstances in which
interception must be discontinued, the legislation is not equally clear. There
is no provision obliging the FRA, the authorities mandated to issue detailed
tasking directives or the Foreign Intelligence Court to cancel a signals
intelligence mission if the conditions for it have ceased to exist or the
measures themselves are no longer necessary (cf. Klass and Others, cited
above, § 52; and Kennedy, cited above, § 161).
130. Nevertheless, notwithstanding that the relevant legislation is less
clear with regard to the third safeguard, it must be borne in mind that any
permit is valid for a maximum of six months and that a renewal requires a
review as to whether the conditions are still met. Furthermore, although the
Foreign Intelligence Inspectorate is not tasked with inspecting every signals
intelligence permit, it may decide that an intelligence interception shall
cease, if during an inspection it is evident that the interception is not in