Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - July 2016
gatekeeper / quality assurance function carried out by first the staff and lawyers within
the interception agency responsible for reviewing all submissions (prior to them being
forwarded to the warrant issuing department), or, secondly, the guardian and gatekeeper
/ quality assurance function carried out by staff in the relevant warrant issuing department
prior to the warrants submission to the senior official and secretary of state.
6.42 The total number of warrants in force on 31 December 2015 was 1518, a 5%
decrease on 2014. Of the 1518 warrants in force on 31 December 2015, 22 were issued
under section 8(4) of RIPA. Some of the 1518 warrants were first authorised before 2015
but the vast majority of interception warrants do not run for longer than six months.
Inspection Regime
6.43 Objectives of Inspections. IOCCO’s interception inspections are structured to
scrutinise the key areas covered by Chapter 1 of Part 1 of RIPA and the Code of Practice.
A typical inspection of an interception agency will include the following:
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a review of the action points or recommendations from the previous inspection
and their implementation;
an evaluation of the systems in place for the interception of communications
to ensure they are sufficient for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of RIPA
and that all relevant records have been kept;
examination of selected interception applications to assess whether they were
necessary in the first instance and whether the requests met the requirements
of necessity and proportionality;
interviews with case officers, analysts or linguists from selected investigations
or operations to assess whether the interception and the justifications for
acquiring all of the material were proportionate;
examination of any urgent oral approvals to check that the process was
justified and used appropriately;
a review of those cases where communications subject to legal privilege or
otherwise confidential information (e.g. confidential journalistic, or confidential
medical) have been intercepted and retained, and any cases where a lawyer is
the subject of an investigation;
a review of the adequacy of the safeguards and arrangements under section
15 (and 16) of RIPA;
an investigation of the procedures in place for the retention, storage and
destruction of intercepted material and related communications data;
a review of the errors reported, including checking that the measures put in
place to prevent recurrence are sufficient.
6.44 After each inspection IOCCO compiles a detailed inspection report and action plan
stating the findings and recommendations. This is sent to the head of the interception
agency and is copied to the relevant secretary of state and warrant issuing department.
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