CHAPTER 12: CIVIL SOCIETY
Commissioners
12.86. The system of Commissioners came in for considerable criticism from civil society.
Concerns ranged from those regarding the Commissioner system and structure, to
those specifically based on the operation of the Commissioners within that structure:
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(a)
The wide range of Commissioners was argued to be inaccessible and
confusing, notwithstanding initiatives such as the Surveillance Road Map,102
meaning that oversight depends on very fine distinctions.
(b)
The fractured nature of the Commissioners’ work means that they are argued
to be ill-placed to assess the proportionality of measures undertaken.
(c)
As judges, suited well to adversarial disputes, their suitability for an inquisitorial
role has been questioned, and the potential need for technological expertise
highlighted.
(d)
Commissioners are appointed by the Prime Minister, but to ensure freedom
from executive influence would be better appointed by Parliament directly.
(e)
There is a lack of public knowledge of and interaction with the Commissioners,
which is at least partly based on the lack of public-facing efforts by
Commissioners (although it is recognised that this criticism may increasingly
not apply to IOCCO, and developments in this regard were encouraged).
(f)
The extent of scrutiny is inadequate, in particular:
the percentage of warrants considered is argued to be insufficient (although
it is recognised that IOCCO has increased the warrants it inspects), with
many suggesting that Commissioners should look at far more (perhaps even
all warrants);
the reports written by the Commissioners are insufficiently probing, being
described as “formulaic and superficial” until 2013, and, in relation to the
more detailed reports appearing thereafter (which are not universal),
“cheerleading with caveats” thereafter; such that many urged the need to
continue less “bland” reports in future, ensuring that the detail allows for
public scrutiny;
in functioning as audit mechanisms (as they were intended by Parliament),
the Commissioners are not well placed to bring to light serious and
systematic intrusions into privacy, and there is a view amongst civil society
that the Commissioners should have highlighted practices which are now
public, and which have since been examined by the IPT.
Produced by the ICO, IOCCO, the ISCommr, the IPT, the OSC, the Office of the Biometrics
Commissioner, and the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, (August 2014).
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