Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - July 2016
behalf of the secretary of state by a senior official in the warrant issuing department.
6.19 Exceptionally a warrant may be issued in an urgent case by a senior official but
only if it is expressly authorised by a secretary of state (sections 7(1)(b), 7(2)(a) of RIPA
and Paragraphs 5.6 and 6.16 of the Code of Practice). An urgent warrant lasts for five
working days unless it is renewed by the secretary of state (section 9(6)(a) of RIPA).
6.20 Interception warrants may be issued under the provisions of either section 8(1) or
section 8(4) of RIPA.
6.21 Section 8(1) interception warrants must name or describe either (a) one person
as the interception subject, or (b) a single set of premises as the premises to which the
permitted interception relates. The definition of “person” in section 81(1) includes any
organisation and any association or combination of persons.
6.22 An application for a section 8(1) warrant should contain the details required by
Paragraph 5.2 of the Code of Practice. The required details include:
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the background of the operation;
the person or premises constituting the subject of the application (and how
the person or premises features in the operation);
a description of the communications to be intercepted, details of the CSPs
and an assessment of the feasibility of the interception operation where this
is relevant;
a description of the conduct to be authorised or the conduct it is necessary to
undertake in order to carry out what is authorised or required by the warrant,
and the obtaining of related communications data. This conduct may include
the interception of other communications not specifically identified by the
warrant as foreseen under section 5(6)(a);
an explanation of why the interception is necessary under section 5(3);
consideration of why the conduct is proportionate to what is sought to be
achieved by that conduct;
consideration of any collateral intrusion and why that intrusion is justified in
the circumstances;
whether the communications in question might affect religious, medical or
journalistic confidentiality or legal privilege, or communications between an
MP and another person on constituency business;
where an application is urgent, the supporting justification;
an assurance that all material intercepted will be handled in accordance with
the safeguards required by section 15 of RIPA.
6.23 Section 8(1) warrants have to comprise one or more schedules with details
designed to inform the relevant CSPs or other persons providing assistance what
communications they are required to intercept (section 8(2) of RIPA).
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