2012 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
6 LAWFUL INTERCEPTION OF
COMMUNICATIONS (RIPA PART I,
CHAPTER I)
6.1 General Background to Lawful Interception
Interception of communications is amongst a range of investigative techniques used by intelligence
and law enforcement agencies in the interests of national security, for the prevention and/or
detection of serious crime, and to safeguard the economic well-being of the UK (where this is
directly related to national security).
Section 2 of RIPA defines the meaning and location of interception:
2(2) “For the purposes of this Act, but subject to the following provisions of this
section, a person intercepts a communication in the course of its transmission by
means of a telecommunication system if, and only if, he—
a. so modifies or interferes with the system, or its operation
b. so monitors transmissions made by means of the system, or
c. so monitors transmissions made by wireless telegraphy to or from apparatus
comprised in the system,
as to make some or all of the contents of the communication available, while
being transmitted, to a person other than the sender or intended recipient of the
communication.”
2(4) “For the purposes of this Act the interception of a communication takes place
in the United Kingdom if, and only if, the modification, interference or monitoring
or, in the case of a postal item, the interception is effected by conduct within the
United Kingdom and the communication is either—
a. intercepted in the course of its transmission by means of a public postal service or
public telecommunication system; or
b. intercepted in the course of its transmission by means of a private telecommunication
system in a case in which the sender or intended recipient of the communication is
in the United Kingdom.”
Due to the potential level of intrusion into an individual’s private life associated with interception,
RIPA requires that interception of communications can only be authorised by a warrant signed
by a Secretary of State or Scottish Minister1.
1
Scottish Ministers are the appropriate authority in relation to serious crime in Scotland. In this report the wording
‘Secretary of State’ should also be taken to mean ‘Scottish Minister.’
10