Category: Privacy

Privacy Conference – Call for Papers

The Fifth Northumbria Information Rights Conference will take place on Wednesday 1 May 2013 at the Centre for Life, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.   The theme of the conference will be “Changing notions of privacy”.

The aim of the conference is both to explore developing understandings of privacy, and the tensions that exist between privacy, openness and freedom of expression. The following topics will be explored within the overall theme, and papers will be grouped for presentation accordingly:

  • What is privacy?
  • Privacy v freedom of expression
  • Technology and the challenges of protecting privacy
  • Privacy in a commercial context
  • Privacy and the Freedom of Information Act 2000
  • Privacy or openness
  • Privacy and the Data Protection Act 1998

The university will also consider abstracts which do not fall within these themes but which are nonetheless relevant to the overall theme.

This call is open to academics, postgraduate students and practitioners from all disciplines, but particularly law, politics, information science and records management. Ibrahim Hasan presented a paper to this conference last year examining the Government’s proposals to change RIPA and whether they were a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We would urge our readers to get involved.

Those interested in presenting a paper are invited to submit abstracts to the conference administrator Maureen Cooke: email maureen.cooke@northumbria.ac.uk. Abstracts should be submitted by 7th December 2012. They should not exceed 300 words. Submission must be by Word document e-mail attachment at the email address shown above and should include, in addition to the abstract, your title, name and organisation/institutional affiliation and your email address for correspondence.

All proposals will be reviewed, and successful applicants will be notified at the latest by 21st December 2012. Please contact maureen.cooke@northumbria.ac.uk for any general enquiries about the conference or telephone 0191 243 7597.

RIPA, CHIS and the IPT

A recent legal case about undercover police officers’ activities whilst investigating protest groups, has raised the importance of RIPA forms being completed correctly and care being taken when authorising them.

Ten women have launched  a legal action claiming they were tricked into forming “deeply personal” relationships with undercover police officers acting as a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) under Part 2 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). The case is the first civil action to be brought before a court.

Three of the women referred to in court had intimate relationships with Mark Kennedy, who spent seven years living as an environmental campaigner. Kennedy’s deployment was made public last year after activists worked out he was a police spy.

Lawyers for the police are currently applying to have the case moved from the High Court to “a secret Tribunal”. Normally cases involving a breach of RIPA are heard by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). Most cases heard by the Tribunal are in private and not open to the media. Very few judgements are published. Most cases are about conduct by, or on behalf of, the Intelligence Services (MI5, MI6and GCHQ). The Tribunal has the power to award damages to complainants and to quash or cancel any authorisation to do the surveillance.

Not surprisingly, the IPT is the forum of choice for the police in this case. According to a report in The Guardian:

“Monica Carrs Frisk QC, representing the police, said their argument was not about denying the women remedy, but determining the correct forum for determining their claims.The police argue the case should be heard in the investigatory powers tribunal, as it was set up specifically to consider allegations of unjustifiable surveillance by the state.They also argue they may be unable defend the case because they have a long-established policy of neither confirming nor denying the identity of undercover police officers.”

When the Kennedy case came to light, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) conducted a report into the circumstances. It concluded that, whilst undercover officers deployed into protest communities gathered intelligence which enabled the police to prevent acts of serious violence, there was serious intrusion into the lives of others, and this risk needs to be better managed in the future.

More will come about these cases especially if (as is likely) the civil case remains in the High Court. The circumstances shows the importance of all public authorities, not just the police, considering the applicability of Part 2 of RIPA , especially the CHIS provisions, very carefully when engaging staff to “go undercover”. In addition to the usual considerations of necessity and proportionality, the CHIS authorisation form  requires a risk assessment to be done, together with a need to have a separate CHIS Handler and a Controller. Detailed records also need to be kept in accordance with the RIPA (Source Records) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/2725). If these roles were carried out correctly then abuses of RIPA, as in this case, would be very rare.

Of course local authorities are very infrequent users of the CHIS process (and they certainly do not authorise CHIS operations involving sleeping with the targets!). Any potential for abuse has been minimised even further by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (sections 37 and 38) which came into force on 1st November 2012. This changes the procedure for the authorisation of local authority surveillance under RIPA. From 1st November, local authorities have been required to obtain the approval of a Magistrate for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source and accessing communications data. On 5th November, Gateshead Council received (what could be) the first Magistrates’ approval.

The case of Mark Kennedy (and others) does beg the question; Is it time the police were required to seek judicial approval for surveillance under RIPA? Should we even stop there? What about surveillance abuses by the press which have come to light as a result of the Leveson Inquiry? Is it time to RIPA it up and start again?

Act Now can help you prepare for the new RIPA process. We have an update  course in December in London. If you would like advice on what needs to be done or customised in house training, please get in touch.

Finally all RIPA authorities need to revise their guidance and policy documents. See our RIPA Policy and Procedures Toolkit.

Nobody cares for me. Signed DC.

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx, 

As a registered user of www.tpexpress.co.uk we are legally required under the Data Protection Act 1998 to contact you with the information outlined below.

Please note: This is not a marketing communication and does not affect your opt-in/out preferences for marketing emails.

What is changing?
We will be changing our online booking system during November and we are writing to you to notify you of the change in data controller from thetrainline.com to ourselves as a result of this change.

What does this mean to you?
Your retail contract will be exclusively with:
First/Keolis Transpennine Limited (FTPE),
50 Eastbourne Terrace,
Paddington,
London,
W2 6LG
Company Registration Number 04113923

Can anyone tell me which section of the Act requires a Data Controller to inform a data subject of a change of data controller? Or is it just good business practice? Or just plain “we don’t know what we’re doing”?

Answer on a postcard please to

DPO, Customer Relations, Some Train Operator, Leaves on the line, Adelstrop.

First Magistrates’ Approval of RIPA Surveillance

Gateshead Council MAY HAVE become the first local authority in the country to successfully obtain Magistrates’ approval for covert surveillance under new laws which came into force on 1st November 2012.

Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (sections 37 and 38) changes the procedure for the authorisation of local authority surveillance under the Regulation for Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). From 1st November, local authorities have been required to obtain the approval of a Magistrate for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source and accessing communications data.

The Home Office has now published its RIPA Magistrates’ Approval Guidance both for local authorities and the Magistrates’ Court. However until recently, no council had reported a successful application to the Magistrates. We believe, Gateshead Council is the first to do so.

Colin Howey, Senior Trading Standards Officer, explains what they did:

“Like most authorities we were a bit anxious about the new RIPA regime. Whilst we wanted to continue to use covert surveillance techniques in a necessary and proportionate manner, we were concerned about the cost and resource implications of the new Magistrates’ approval process.

Following a full day training workshop we were more confident about what was required. But the new process was still untested.

On 5th November though we obtained what may well be the country’s first judicial approval of a RIPA authorisation. Gateshead Magistrates’ Court approved our use of Directed Surveillance to investigate some serious trading standards offences.

We carefully followed the procedure as set out in the Home Office RIPA Magistrates’ Approval Guidance.  We were also careful to ensure the surveillance was necessary on the amended grounds set out in The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) (Amendment) Order 2012, SI 2012/1500  which also came into force on 1 November 2012. This makes Directed subject to a new Serious Crime Test.

Once we obtained the internal authorisation in the usual way we contacted the Gateshead Magistrates’ Court to arrange a hearing.  They asked us to e mail through the original RIPA authorisation form as well as the completed judicial application/order form.

The hearing was attended by the investigating officer and the Council Solicitor. The court was also aware that it was the first RIPA application it had received so a District judge heard the application advised by the Clerk of the Court.  The hearing was in private. The judge considered the RIPA authorisation and the judicial application/order form.  He asked one or two relevant questions to satisfy himself that the surveillance was necessary and proportionate and then signed the judicial order form

The whole thing was relatively straightforward. It only took the judge fifteen minutes to consider and approve the application.

My tips for those who need to make a similar application are:

1. Train your staff – All investigators and authorising officers need to know about the new process.  Those who will be attending court need to be trained in completing the new judicial application/order form.

2. Designate staff who will be attending the Magistrates Court -This is done under section 223 of the Local Government Act 1972.  It is worth giving staff a letter of designation to take to the court when making the application.

3.  Contact your local Magistrates Court now to discuss how they will deal with RIPA applications. Like ours they may want documents e mailed to them beforehand. This will also save time on the day.”

Our thanks to Colin Howey and the Regulatory Services Team at Gateshead Council for this fascinating insight. The training provided to Gateshead Council was conducted by Ibrahim Hasan, of Act Now Training.

Did your council achieve a RIPA approval before Gateshead? Use the comment field to let us know.

Act Now can help you prepare for the new RIPA process. We have an update  course in December in London. If you would like advice on what needs to be done or customised in house training, please get in touch.

Finally all RIPA authorities need to revise their guidance and policy documents. See our RIPA Policy and Procedures Toolkit.

RIPA Policy and Procedure Toolkit (November 2012)

Major changes to the local authority surveillance regime (under RIPA) come into force this today.

  • Local authorities will need to obtain Magistrates’ approval for all surveillance done under RIPA.
  • Directed Surveillance will be subject to a new serious crime test

For detailed discussion on the changes please see our blog:

http://actnowtraining.blog/2012/10/17/1st-november-d-day-for-council-surveillance/

Now is the time to revise your RIPA polices and procedures and make your staff aware of the new rules. Ibrahim Hasan, one of the UK’s leading writers and trainers on public sector surveillance, has developed a RIPA procedures and guidance toolkit to assist you. Why reinvent the wheel?

The toolkit includes an updated version of our previous RIPA Forms Guidance document, which was bought by over one hundred different organisations. In addition there are detailed guidance notes on deciding when surveillance is caught by RIPA, how to authorise it and what to do about surveillance which is not regulated by RIPA. The toolkit is written in straight forward language (avoiding legal jargon) and includes flowcharts to assist understanding. For more information click on the link below:

http://www.actnow.org.uk/content/116

There is a 20% discount for those who bought the previous RIPA Forms Guidance (now updated and included in this toolkit.)

1st November: D-Day for Council Surveillance

1st of November 2012 will see big changes in the way local authorities carry out surveillance under Regulation fo Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA):

1. Magistrates’ Approval for all Surveillance

Sections 37 and 38 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 amends RIPA so as to require local authorities to obtain the approval of a Magistrate for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA; namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) and accessing communications data. Click on the links below for more

Details of the new legal provisions

How to apply for Magistrates’ approval

RIPA Policy and Procedures Toolkit

2. New Serious Crime Test for Directed Surveillance

From 1st November 2012, local authority Authorising Officers may not authorise Directed Surveillance unless it is for the purpose of preventing or detecting a criminal offence which punishable by a maximum term of at least 6 months of imprisonment (subject to exceptions).

Details of the new test

Will councils still be able to do surveillance for “minor offences”?

Read my view here

How Act Now Can Help

1. New procedures and guidance will have to be issued – see our RIPA Policy and Procedures Toolkit

2. Officers will need to be made aware of the new procedures. See our training courses. If you would like customised in house training, please get in touch.

I hate my boss, I’m drunk, E’s are good and here’s my new mobile.

A delegate on a recent course after an animated discussion on social networking  sent us the following link to “We know what you’re doing… A social networking privacy experiment by Callum Haywood“.

To use the words of the site “All data is pulled directly from Facebook, it is not censored, and it is publicly accessible via the Graph API” . In other words the site ‘reads’ status updates which are publicly accessible from Facebook and if they meet the right criteria it categorises them into the following 4 groups:

  • Those who ‘hate their boss’ (and are likely to get fired)
  • Those who are hungover
  • Those who use drugs or condone the use of drugs
  • Those who have a new phone number and have listed it publicly online

Some are fairly anonymous and private but now and again you do get enough information to track some one down with some low level googling. Here’s the link. Watch the video as well.

http://www.weknowwhatyouredoing.com/

 

New RIPA Procedure Guidance: Magistrates’ Approval

Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (sections 37 and 38) comes into force on 1st November 2012. This changes the procedure for the authorisation of local authority surveillance under the Regulation for Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

From 1st November local authorities will be required to obtain the approval of a Justice of the Peace (JP) for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) and accessing communications data.

An approval is also required if an authorisation to use such techniques is being renewed. In each case, the role of the JP is to ensure that the correct procedures have been followed and the relevant factors have been taken account of. There is no requirement for the JP to consider either cancellations or internal reviews.For a full explanation of the 2012 Act and the new section 37 and 38 of RIPA read my article.

Home Office Guidance

The Home Office has now published its RIPA Magistrates’ Approval Guidance both for local authorities and the Magistrates’ Court. This guidance is non-statutory but provides advice on how local authorities can best approach these changes in law and the new arrangements that need to be put in place to implement them effectively.  It is supplementary to the legislation and to the two statutory Codes of Practice.

The New Magistrates’ Approval Process

  1. The first stage will be to apply for an internal authorisation in the usual way. Once it has been granted, the local authority will need to contact the local Magistrates Court to arrange a hearing.
  2. The hearing is a ‘legal proceeding’ and therefore local authority officers need to be formally designated to appear, be sworn in and present evidence or provide information as required by the JP. It is envisaged that the investigating officer will be best suited to fulfill this role. The local authority may consider it appropriate for the SPoC (Single Point of Contact) to attend for applications involving communications data.
  3. The local authority will provide the JP with a copy of the original RIPA authorisation or notice.  This forms the basis of the application to the JP and should contain all information that is relied upon. In addition, the local authority will provide the JP with two copies of a partially completed judicial application/order form (which is included in the Home Office Guidance).
  4. The hearing will be in private and heard by a single JP who will read and consider the RIPA authorisation or notice and the judicial application/order form.  He/she may have questions to clarify points or require additional reassurance on particular matters.  The forms and supporting papers must by themselves make the case.  It is not sufficient for the local authority to provide oral evidence where this is not reflected or supported in the papers provided.
  5.  The JP will consider whether he or she is satisfied that at the time the authorisation was granted or renewed or the notice was given or renewed, there were reasonable grounds for believing that the authorisation or notice was necessary and proportionate.  He/She will also consider whether there continues to be reasonable grounds.  In addition they must be satisfied that the person who granted the authorisation or gave the notice was an appropriate designated person within the local authority and the authorisation was made in accordance with any applicable legal restrictions, for example that the crime threshold for directed surveillance has been met (see below).
  6.  The order section of the above mentioned form will be completed by the JP and will be the official record of the his/her decision.  The local authority will need to retain a copy of the form after it has been signed by the JP.

The JP may decide to –

  • Approve the grant or renewal of an authorisation or notice

The grant or renewal of the RIPA authorisation or notice will then take effect and the local authority may proceed to use the technique in that particular case. The local authority will need to provide a copy of the order to the communications service provider (CSP), via the SPoC (Single Point of Contact), for all CD requests.

  • Refuse to approve the grant or renewal of an authorisation or notice

The RIPA authorisation or notice will not take effect and the local authority may not use the technique in that case.  Where an application has been refused the local authority may wish to consider the reasons for that refusal.  For example, a technical error in the form may be remedied without the local authority going through the internal authorisation process again.  The local authority may then wish to reapply for judicial approval once those steps have been taken.

  • Refuse to approve the grant or renewal and quash the authorisation or notice

This applies where a Magistrates’ court refuses to approve the grant, giving or renewal of an authorisation or notice and decides to quash the original authorisation or notice.The court must not exercise its power to quash that authorisation or notice unless the applicant has had at least two business days from the date of the refusal in which to make representations.

Appeals

A local authority may only appeal a JP’s decision on a point of law bymaking an application for judicial review in the High Court. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) will continue to investigate complaints by individuals about the use of RIPA techniques by public bodies, including local authorities.  If, following a complaint to them, the IPT finds fault with a RIPA authorisation or notice it has the power to quash the JP’s order which approved the grant or renewal of the authorisation or notice. It can also award damages if it believes that an individual’s human rights have been violated by the public authority doing the surveillance.

Plan Now

Local authorities should Act Now to ensure they are ready for the new procedure. They should:

  1. Train staff – All investigators and authorising officers need to know about the new process. Those who will be attending court need to be trained in completing the new judicial application/order form.
  2. Designate staff who will be attending the Magistrates Court – The usual procedure would be for local authority Standing Orders to designate certain officers( including SPoCs) for the purpose of presenting RIPA cases to JPs under section 223 of the Local Government Act 1972.  A pool of suitable officers could be designated before 1st November and adjusted as appropriate throughout the year.
  3. Amend the RIPA Policy and Procedures to reflect the new process.

New Serious Crime Test The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) (Amendment) Order 2012, SI 2012/1500  (“the 2012 Order”), was made on 11 June 2012 and will also come into force on 1 November 2012. Directed Surveillance will be made subject to a new Serious Crime Test. The days of councils authorising surveillance for dog fouling and littering will soon be over. More information here

Act Now can help you prepare for the new RIPA process. We have a new RIPA Policy and Procedures Toolkit as well as courses throughout the UK.

 If you would like advice on what needs to be done or customised in house training, please get in touch.

Mind the (Surveillance) Gap!

Before the 2010 election, both coalition parties made a big thing about “rolling back the Surveillance State.” They announced in the Coalition Agreement:

 “We will ban the use of powers in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by councils, unless they are signed off by a magistrate and required for stopping serious crime.”

The first part of this commitment has been enacted via sections 37 and 38 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 . This amends the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) so as to require local authorities to obtain the approval of a Magistrate for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA; namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) and accessing communications data. (Read our blog post for more on this requirement, which comes into force on 1st November).

The second part of the Coalition’s commitment also comes into force on the same day in the form of The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) (Amendment) Order 2012, SI 2012/1500 (“the 2012 Order”).  This amends the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2010, SI 2010/521 (“the 2010 Order”).

From 1st November 2012, local authority Authorising Officers may not authorise Directed Surveillance unless it is for the purpose of preventing or detecting a criminal offence and it meets the condition set out in New Article 7A(3)(a) or (b) of the 2010 Order. Those conditions are that the criminal offence which is sought to be prevented or detected is punishable, whether on summary conviction or on indictment, by a maximum term of at least 6 months of imprisonment, or would constitute an offence under sections 146, 147 or 147A of the Licensing Act 2003 or section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (offences involving sale of tobacco and alcohol to underage children).

The Government’s aim in passing the 2012 Order is explained in paragraph 7.2 of the explanatory memorandum :

“The additional restriction that is imposed through this statutory instrument on authorisations of directed surveillance by local authorities is imposed in response to public concern that some local authorities have used directed surveillance in trivial cases such as littering, dog control and school admission. This statutory instrument discharges a Government commitment to prevent local authority use of directed surveillance under RIPA unless required for the purposes of preventing or detecting the more serious kinds of criminal offences which local authorities investigate.”

Whilst the 2012 Order will certainly restrict councils authorising Directed Surveillance under RIPA, can it completely stop them doing covert surveillance when investigating “minor offences”? I do not think so.

RIPA is there to ensure that certain types of covert surveillance undertaken by public authorities is done in such as is human rights compliant. This is done through a system of (until now) internal authorisation from a senior officer. RIPA is permissive legislation. Authorisation under RIPA affords a public authority a defence under Section 27 i.e. the activity is lawful for all purposes. However, failure to obtain an authorisation does not make covert surveillance unlawful. Section 80 of RIPA states:

“Nothing in any of the provisions of this Act by virtue of which conduct of any description is or may be authorised by any warrant, authorisation or notice, or by virtue of which information may be obtained in any manner, shall be construed—

(a)as making it unlawful to engage in any conduct of that description which is not otherwise unlawful under this Act and would not be unlawful apart from this Act;

(b)as otherwise requiring—

(i)the issue, grant or giving of such a warrant, authorisation or notice, or

(ii)the taking of any step for or towards obtaining the authority of such a warrant, authorisation or notice,

before any such conduct of that description is engaged in; or

(c)as prejudicing any power to obtain information by any means not involving conduct that may be authorised under this Act.”

This point was explained more fully by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the case of C v The Police (Case No: IPT/03/32/H 14th November 2006 ):

“Although RIPA provides a framework for obtaining internal authorisations of directed surveillance (and other forms of surveillance), there is no general prohibition in RIPA against conducting directed surveillance without RIPA  authorisation. RIPA does not require prior authorisation to be obtained by a public authority in order to carry out surveillance. Lack of authorisation under RIPA does not necessarily mean that the carrying out of directed surveillance is unlawful.”

In making the 2012 Order, the Government has forgotten to do anything about section 80 of RIPA. They should have repealed or amended it in some way to achieve their aim. Section 80 means that the changes in the 2012 Order will not make surveillance for dog fouling and littering unlawful. All it will mean is that in such cases surveillance will not have the protection of RIPA (the defence in section 27). Local authorities will still be able use covert surveillance for such purposes as long as it is necessary and proportionate in accordance with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to privacy).

This point is made by the Chief Surveillance Commissioner in last year’s annual report (2010/2011):

“The higher threshold in the proposed legislation will reduce the number of cases in which local authorities have the protection of RIPA when conducting covert surveillance; it will not prevent the use of those tactics in cases where the threshold is not reached but where it may be necessary and proportionate to obtain evidence covertly and there will be no RIPA audit trail. Part I of RIPA makes unauthorised interception unlawful. In contrast, Part II makes authorised surveillance lawful but does not make unauthorised surveillance unlawful.”

In his latest annual report (2011/2012) he again acknowledges (at paragraph 5.22) that there is a gap in the law which allows public authorities to undertake covert surveillance (as long as it is human rights compliant) even though it may not be authorisable under RIPA:

“I occasionally encourage the use of similar authorisation mechanisms for activity which cannot be protected by the Acts (for example where covert techniques are used to identify a missing person when no crime is suspected). In these circumstances statutory definitions are met but none of the grounds specified in RIPA section 28(3) or RIP(S)A section 6(3), yet the human rights of the subject of surveillance must be considered. The authorisation process provides a useful audit of decisions and actions.”

So when the 2012 Order comes into force, we will have a void up to the 6 month threshold where Directed Surveillance will not be authorisable under RIPA but may still be desired to be undertaken by investigating officers. What to do? From the above it seems that surveillance can be done as long as it is necessary and proportionate and a proper paper audit trail exists. It may be a good idea to complete a “Non-RIPA authorisation form.” (We have one in our RIPA Policy and Procedure Toolkit).

Will local authorities decide to do “Non-RIPA Surveillance”? Many of the delegates on our training courses have said that they will. This does go against the will of the Government and the purpose behind the changes, BUT it is lawful.

So the question is – “No six month threshold but a need to do surveillance – Should you?”I would welcome colleagues’ thoughts. Please feel free to use the comment field below.

Act now can help you prepare for the new RIPA process. Our training courses run throughout the UK. If you would like customised in house training, please get in touch.

 

Judicial Approval for Council Surveillance

The Commencement Order for, amongst other things, the RIPA provisions within the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has now been made. This means that from 1st November 2012 all local authority surveillance will require judicial approval.

Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 2012 Act (sections 37 and 38) amends the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) so as to require local authorities to obtain the approval of a Magistrate for the use of any one of the three covert investigatory techniques available to them under RIPA namely Directed Surveillance, the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) and accessing communications data. An approval is also required if an authorisation to use such techniques is being renewed. In each case, the role of the Magistrate is to ensure that the correct procedures have been followed and the relevant factors have been taken account of. The new provisions allow the Magistrate, on refusing an approval of an authorisation, to quash that authorisation.

For a full explanation of the new provisions click here

Note that 1st November also sees Directed Surveillance being made subject to a new Serious Crime Test. More information here

These provisions will be examined in our forthcoming RIPA update workshops. We also have a new RIPA Policy and Procedure Toolkit which will help.

Please get in touch if you would like customised in house training  on any aspects of the Act.

UPDATE (13/9/12)

The New Criminal Procedure Rules 2012 (coming into force on 1st October) provide more details about the procedure for seeking magistrates’ approval:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1726/part/6/crossheading/6/made

We are still waiting though for the detailed guidance from the Home Office.