Implementation of warrants
3.9. After a warrant has been issued it will be forwarded to the
person to whom it is addressed – in practice the intercepting agency
which submitted the application. Section 11 of RIPA then permits the
intercepting agency to carry out the interception, or to require the
assistance of other persons in giving effect to the warrant. A warrant
may be served on any person who is required to provide assistance in
relation to that warrant.
3.10. Where a copy of an interception warrant has been served on
anyone providing a postal service or a public telecommunications
service, or who has control of a telecommunication system in the UK,
that person is under a duty to take all such steps for giving effect to
the warrant as are notified to him or her by or on behalf of the person
to whom the warrant is addressed. This applies to any company
offering services to customers in the UK, irrespective of where the
company is based. Section 11 also sets out the means by which that
duty may be enforced.
3.11. Section 11(2B) of RIPA provides that service of a copy of a
warrant on a person outside the UK may (in addition to electronic or
other means of service) be effected in any of the following ways:
• By serving it at the person’s principal office within the UK or, if the
person does not have an office in the UK, at any place in the UK
where the person carries on business or conducts activities;
• At an address in the UK specified by the person;
• By making it available for inspection at a place in the UK (if neither
of the above two methods are reasonably practicable).
Provision of reasonable assistance
3.12. Any person providing a postal service or a public
telecommunications service, or who has control of a
telecommunications system in the UK, (referred to as
communications service providers (CSPs) in this code) may be
required to provide assistance in giving effect to an interception
warrant. RIPA places a requirement on CSPs to take all such steps for
giving effect to the warrant as are notified to them (section 11(4) of
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