63. Like my predecessors I am not persuaded that there is any serious risk in
the publication of the number of warrants issued by the Home Secretary and
the First Minister for Scotland. This information does not provide hostile
agencies with any indication of the targets because as Lord Lloyd said in his first
report published in March 1987 “the total includes not only warrants issued in
the interest of national security, but also for the prevention and detection of
serious crime.” These figures are therefore set out in the Annex to this Report.
However, I believe that the views expressed in Lord Birkett’s report still apply
to the publication of the number of warrants issued by the Foreign Secretary
and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I also agree with the view of my
predecessor, Lord Nolan, that the disclosure of this information would be
prejudicial to the public interest. I have, therefore, included them in the
confidential Annex.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal
64. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal was established by section 65 of the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The Tribunal came into being on
2 October 2000. From that date the Investigatory Powers Tribunal assumed
responsibility for the jurisdiction previously held by the Interception of
Communications Tribunal, the Security Service Tribunal and the Intelligence
Services Tribunal and the complaints function of the Commissioner appointed
under the Police Act 1997 as well as claims under the Human Rights Act. The
President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal is Lord Justice Mummery with
Mr. Justice Burton acting as Vice-President. In addition, seven senior members
of the legal profession serve on the Tribunal. During 2001 a Registrar was
appointed to help in the process of hearing claims alleging infringements of the
Human Rights Act.
65. As I explained in paragraph 25 of my first report last year, complaints to
the Investigatory Powers Tribunal cannot be easily “categorised” under the
three Tribunal system that existed prior to RIPA. Consequently, I am unable to
detail those complaints that relate solely to the interception of
communications. I can only provide information on the total number of
complaints made to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. The Investigatory
Powers Tribunal received 102 new applications from the day of its formation on
2 October 2000 to the end of December 2001. The Tribunal completed its
investigation of 71 of these during the year. 31 cases have been carried forward
to 2002. On no occasion has the Tribunal concluded that there has been a
contravention of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 or the
Human Rights Act 1998.
Assistance to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal
66. Section 57(3) of RIPA requires me to give all such assistance to the
Tribunal as the Tribunal may require in relation to investigations and other
specified matters. I have not had occasion to give any assistance to the Tribunal
in 2001.
Errors
67. A significant number of errors and breaches have been reported to me
during the course of the year - 43 in all. By way of example, details of some of
these are recorded below. It is important from the point of view of the public
that I should stress that none of the breaches or errors were deliberate, that all
were caused by human or procedural error or by technical problems and that in
every case either no interception took place or, if there was interception, the
product was destroyed immediately on discovery of the error. Most did not
involve any breach of RIPA as such. The most common cause of error is a
12