Report of the Independent Surveillance Review
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law-enforcement agency conduct breaching human rights. However, it is true to say that
the majority of this legal oversight is conducted following the issue of a warrant or other
authority; this is true of both the commissioners and the IPT.
The Commissioners
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The commissioners were introduced under a number of pieces of legislation, including
the Interception of Communications Act 1985, SSA 1989, ISA 1994 and RIPA 2000. There
are currently five commissioners in total, responsible for oversight of the interception
of communications; the intelligence services; information; surveillance; and surveillance
cameras. The roles of the various commissioners are fairly complex and often overlap;
even the commissioners themselves require the ‘Surveillance Roadmap’ document
to understand what the others do.31 The document is kept up-to-date as legislation
develops, but it describes a regime which the commissioners themselves believe has
been somewhat left behind by the pace of technological change, as well as the legal and
regulatory developments.
The Interception of Communications Commissioner
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IOCCO is required to keep under review the interception of communications and the
acquisition and disclosure of communications data by the intelligence and security
agencies, police and law enforcement, and other public authorities with the ability to
intercept communications. The IOCCO office features a team of nine inspectors drawn
from a wide variety of backgrounds. The office conducts twice-yearly inspections of
interception agencies and the government departments which authorise interception
warrants, in addition to periodic visits. The 2014 annual report by IOCCO noted that it
conducted twenty-six inspections, and made seventy-five recommendations to the nine
interception agencies and four warrant-granting departments to improve compliance,
and to improve systems and procedures for the interception of communications or the
acquisition of communications data.32
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The primary objectives of inspections conducted by IOCCO are to ensure that:
•
•
The systems in place for the interception of communications are sufficient for
the purpose of RIPA Part I, Chapter I and that all relevant records have been kept
All interception has been carried out lawfully and in accordance with RIPA Part I,
Chapter I and its associated Code of Practice
31. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) et al., ‘Surveillance Road Map: A Shared
Approach to the Regulation of Surveillance in the United Kingdom’, Version 3.3, 2015.
32. Anthony May, Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner: March 2015
(London: The Stationery Office, 2015).