Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - July 2016
5.7
On 4 November 2015 the Government introduced the IP Bill into Parliament and
it has since gone through various iterations.
5.8
The bill was scrutinised by a Joint Committee of both houses, the House of
Commons Science and Technology Committee and the ISC, resulting in over 150
recommendations.21
5.9
We submitted written evidence22 and gave oral evidence23 to the Joint Committee
highlighting the elements needed to create a world-leading oversight body, along
with a number of additional concerns and inadequacies relating to the IP Bill clauses.
We summarised our evidence into eight key areas and were pleased that the Joint
Committee and the ISC made over 20 recommendations in the areas we highlighted. On
25 February 2016 we published a one page summary linking the various Committees’
recommendations to our evidence.24
5.10 On 1 March 2016 the Government introduced the revised Bill to Parliament and
published a substantial amount of additional documentation to accompany the Bill. One
of these, the Government’s Response to Pre-legislative Scrutiny,25 included a table of the
various Committees’ recommendations and the Government’s response to each.
5.11 On 23 March 2016 we published26 a document that sought to review the 8 key
areas we had highlighted in our original written evidence to the Joint Committee against
the revised IP Bill that was introduced to Parliament on 1 March 2016. We did so in order
to assist the Public Bill Committee which was at that time carrying out a detailed line by
line examination of the Bill. We also gave oral evidence27 to the Public Bill Committee.
5.12 Update at House of Lords stage: At the point at which this report was finished, the
IP Bill had progressed to the House of Lords. The comments in the following paragraphs
relate to the iteration of the IP Bill that was introduced into the House of Lords on 8 June
2016. Although it contained some enhanced safeguards we still have concerns that a
21 Joint Committee report http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201516/jtselect/
jtinvpowers/93/9302.htm ; Science and Technology Committee report http://www.publications.
parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmsctech/573/573.pdf ; ISC report http://isc.independent.gov.uk/
committee-reports/special-reports
22 http://www.iocco-uk.info/docs/IOCCO%20Evidence%20for%20the%20IP%20Bill%20Joint%20Committee.
pdf
23 http://www.parliament.uk/documents/joint-committees/draft-investigatory-powers-bill/oral-evidencedraft-investigatory-powers-committee.pdf
24 http://www.iocco-uk.info/docs/Summary%20of%20Points%20to%20Consider%20on%20IP%20Bill%20
and%20recommendations.pdf
25 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/504174/54575_
Cm_9219_WEB.PDF
26 http://www.iocco-uk.info/docs/Points%20to%20Consider%20on%20IP%20Bill%20and%20
recommendations%20-%20updated%20post%201st%20March%20amended%20Bill.pdf
27 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmpublic/policingandcrime/160324/
pm/160324s01.pdf
www.iocco-uk.info
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