CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
to the Inspectorate the selectors which directly relate to a specific natural
person (section 3 of the Signals Intelligence Ordinance).
51. The Foreign Intelligence Inspectorate is led by a board whose
members are appointed by the Government for terms of at least four years.
The president and the vice-president shall be or have been permanent
judges. Other members are selected from candidates proposed by the party
groups in the Parliament (section 10 (3) of the Signals Intelligence Act).
52. Any opinions or suggestions for measures arising from the
Inspectorate’s inspections shall be forwarded to the FRA, and if necessary
also to the Government. The Inspectorate also submits annual reports on its
inspections to the Government (section 5 of the Foreign Intelligence
Inspectorate Instructions Ordinance), which are made available to the
public. Furthermore, if the Inspectorate notices potential crimes, it shall
report the matter to the Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten), and, if
deficiencies are discovered that may incur liability for damages for the
State, a report shall be submitted to the Chancellor of Justice
(Justitiekanslern). A report may also be submitted to the Data Protection
Authority (Datainspektionen), which is the supervisory authority on the
treatment of personal data by the FRA (section 15).
53. From the establishment of the Inspectorate in 2009 until 2017 the
Inspectorate conducted 102 inspections in total. Those resulted in 15
opinions submitted to the FRA and one to the Government. No inspections
have revealed reasons to cease an intelligence collection or to destroy the
results. According to the Inspectorate’s annual reports, which contain brief
descriptions of the inspections, those have included numerous detailed
examinations of the selectors used, the destruction of intelligence, the
communication of reports, the treatment of personal data and the overall
compliance with the legislation, directives and permits relevant to the
signals intelligence activities. For instance, between 2010 and 2014 the use
of selectors was inspected on seventeen occasions, which led to one opinion
and a proposal for changes to the FRA’s processing routines. During the
same period the destruction of data related to signals intelligence was
audited on nine occasions. Those also resulted in one opinion, in 2011,
inviting the FRA to amend its internal regulations, which it did the same
year. During 2011 the Inspectorate also verified whether the FRA was
conducting data collection for other countries in accordance with the law,
which did not lead to any opinion being issued. An inspection in 2014
concerned a general review of the FRA’s cooperation with other States and
international organisations in intelligence matters. It did not give rise to any
opinion or suggestion to the FRA. In 2015 and 2016 an overall review to
assess compliance with the limitations stated in permits issued by the
Foreign Intelligence Court resulted in one observation. In 2016 and 2017
the Inspectorate carried out a detailed inspection of the treatment by the
FRA of personal data. The inspection concerned the processing of sensitive
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