MR JUSTICE BURTON
Approved Judgment
were represented by Liberty. This Tribunal concluded that the s.8(4) regime was in
accordance with law. It is immediately necessary to say that of the Four Questions,
set out above, now before this Tribunal, the first, second and fourth questions were
not addressed, because they were not raised, and the third question was not
addressed in terms of Weber, which had not yet reached the ECtHR.
83.
Nevertheless, it is important to refer to the Tribunal’s conclusions, and we quote
certain passages from the judgment:
“9. The s8(4) warrant is accordingly also described as a
“certificated warrant”. It can and may result, provided that
the requirements of s8(4) and (5) are satisfied, in the
interception of all communications between the United
Kingdom and an identified city or country.
...
11. It is apparent that the interference with the privacy of
communications is likely to be greater by virtue of a s8(4)
warrant than as a result of what Counsel called a “targeted”
s8(1) warrant; although there may still be a mass of material
obtained pursuant to a s8(1) warrant, dependent upon the
activities of the individual, or at the premises, the subject of the
warrant, and the number of calls made. In relation to both
regimes, there are restrictions upon the use of intercepted
material. S15 in particular applies to both a s8(1) and a s8(4)
warrant. By s15(1) the Secretary of State must ensure in
relation to all interception warrants that such arrangements
are in force as he considers necessary for securing, by
reference to s15(2), that there is the minimum necessary
disclosure and copying of such material, and by reference to
s15(3) the soonest possible destruction. No challenge is any
longer made by the Complainants to the processes relating to
disclosure retention or destruction of material obtained under a
s8(1) or a s8(4) warrant. There are extra safeguards provided
by s16 of RIPA in the case of s.8(4), or certificated, warrants.
...
14. As to the safeguards in ss15 and 16 of RIPA, in his witness
statement served on behalf of the Respondents, the Director
General of the Organised Crime, Drugs and International
Group of the Home Office explains as follows:
'26. The internal agency manuals that set out the section 15
and section 16 safeguards, contain comprehensive
instructions and refer in detail to specific techniques and
processes. This level of detail is required precisely in order
to ensure that the section 15 and section 16 safeguards, and
the section 8(4) requirements, are properly understood by
staff and are fully effective in practice. For the reasons