CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
the signals intelligence. If the FRA grants a permit, it has to report to the
court immediately and the court shall without delay decide in the matter.
The court may revoke or amend the permit (section 5b).
34. The composition of the Foreign Intelligence Court and its activities
are regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Court Act (Lagen om
Försvarsunderrättelsedomstol; 2009:966). The court consists of one
president, one or two vice-presidents and two to six other members. The
president is a permanent judge, nominated by the Judges Proposals Board
(Domarnämnden) and appointed by the Government. The vice-presidents,
who must be legally trained and have previous experience as judges, and the
other members, who are required to have special expertise of relevance for
the court’s work, are appointed by the Government on four-year terms. The
applications for signals intelligence permits are discussed during hearings,
which may be held behind closed doors, if it is clear that information
classified as secret would be exposed as a result of a public hearing. During
the court’s examination, the FRA as well as a privacy protection
representative (integritetsskyddsombud) are present. The representative,
who does not represent any particular person but the interests of individuals
in general, monitors integrity issues and has access to the case file and may
make statements. Privacy protection representatives are appointed by the
Government for a period of four years and must be or have been permanent
judges or attorneys. The court may hold a hearing and decide on an
application without the presence of a representative only if the case is of
such urgency that a delay would severely compromise the purpose of the
application. The court’s decisions are final.
D. The duration of signals intelligence
35. A permit may be granted for a specific period of time, maximum six
months. An extension may, after a renewed examination, be granted for six
months at a time (Signals Intelligence Act, section 5a).
E. Procedures to be followed for storing, accessing, examining,
using and destroying the intercepted data
36. The Foreign Intelligence Inspectorate (Statens inspektion för
försvarsunderrättelseverksamheten (SIUN); see further paragraphs 50-54
below) oversees access to the communications bearers. Communications
service providers are obliged to transfer cable-based signals crossing the
Swedish borders to “collaboration points” agreed upon with the
Inspectorate. The Inspectorate, in turn, provides the FRA with access to
bearers in so far as such access is covered by a signals intelligence permit
and, in so doing, implements the permits issued by the Foreign Intelligence
Court (Chapter 6, section 19a of the Electronic Communications Act (Lagen
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