MR JUSTICE BURTON
Approved Judgment
on section 5(3) grounds. Further, under section 9(3) RIPA, the
Secretary of State is obliged to cancel a warrant where he is
satisfied that the warrant is no longer necessary on section 5(3)
grounds. There is also provision in the Act for specific factors
in the schedule to the warrant to be deleted where the Secretary
of State considers that they are no longer relevant for
identifying communications from or to the interception subject.
The Code advises that the duty on the Secretary of State to
cancel warrants which are no longer necessary means, in
practice, that intercepting agencies must keep their warrants
under continuous review (see paragraph 55 above). The Court
concludes that the provisions on duration, renewal and
cancellation are sufficiently clear.
...
163. As to the general safeguards which apply to the
processing and communication of intercept material, the Court
observes that section 15 RIPA imposes a duty on the Secretary
of State to ensure that arrangements are in place to secure any
data obtained from interception and contains specific
provisions on communication of intercept material. Further
details of the arrangements are provided by the Code. In
particular, the Code strictly limits the number of persons to
whom intercept material can be disclosed, imposing a
requirement for the appropriate level of security clearance as
well as a requirement to communicate data only where there is
a “need to know”. It further clarifies that only so much of the
intercept material as the individual needs to know is to be
disclosed and that where a summary of the material would
suffice, then only a summary should be disclosed. The Code
requires intercept material, as well as copies and summaries of
such material, to be handled and stored securely to minimise
the risk of threat or loss. In particular, it must be inaccessible
to those without the necessary security clearance. A strict
procedure for security vetting is in place. In the circumstances,
the Court is satisfied that the provisions on processing and
communication of intercept material provide adequate
safeguards for the protection of data obtained.
164. As far as the destruction of intercept material is
concerned, section 15(3) RIPA requires that the intercept
material and any related communications data, as well as any
copies made of the material or data, must be destroyed as soon
as there are no longer any grounds for retaining them as
necessary on section 5(3) grounds. The Code stipulates that
intercept material must be reviewed at appropriate intervals to
confirm that the justification for its retention remains valid.
165. The Code also requires intercepting agencies to keep
detailed records of interception warrants for which they have