CENTRUM FÖR RÄTTVISA v. SWEDEN JUDGMENT
transferred to the FRA by communications bearers (parliamentary
committee report SOU 2016:45, p. 107).
19. The FRA may conduct signals intelligence within the area of foreign
intelligence only as a result of a detailed tasking directive issued by the
Government, the Government Offices, the Armed Forces or, as from
January 2013, the Security Police and the National Operative Department of
the Police Authority (Nationella operativa avdelningen i Polismyndigheten;
hereafter “NOA”) (sections 1(1) and 4(1) of the Act) in accordance with the
issuer’s precise intelligence requirements. However, the direction of the
FRA’s “development activities” may be determined solely by the
Government (section 4(2)). A detailed tasking directive determines the
direction of the intelligence activities and may concern a certain
phenomenon or situation, but it may not solely target a specific natural
person (section 4(3)).
20. The mandate of the Security Police and the NOA to issue detailed
tasking directives aims to improve these authorities’ ability to obtain data
about foreign circumstances at a strategic level concerning international
terrorism and other serious international crime that may threaten essential
national interests. At the time of introduction of the new rules, the
Government stated in the preparatory works (prop. 2011/12:179, p. 19) that
the mandate is in accordance with the prohibition on conducting signals
intelligence for the purpose of solving tasks in the area of law enforcement
or crime prevention.
21. According to the Foreign Intelligence Ordinance (Förordningen om
försvarsunderrättelseverksamhet; 2000:131), a detailed tasking directive
shall include information about (i) the issuing authority, (ii) the part of the
Government’s annual tasking directive it concerns, (iii) the phenomenon or
situation intended to be covered, and (iv) the need for intelligence on that
phenomenon or situation (section 2a).
B. Scope of application of signals intelligence
22. The purposes for which electronic signals may be collected as part of
foreign intelligence are specified in the Signals Intelligence Act (section 1
(2)) which provides that signals intelligence may be conducted only to
survey:
1. external military threats to the country;
2. conditions for Swedish participation in international peacekeeping or
humanitarian missions or threats to the safety of Swedish interests in
the performance of such operations;
3. strategic circumstances concerning international terrorism or other
serious cross-border crime that may threaten essential national
interests;
5