The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), established by RIPA, has exclusive jurisdiction to hear complaints about the intelligence agencies or interception (ss.65-70). However, since individuals are not automatically notified they have been the subject of interception or other surveillance, they have limited opportunity to contest it at the Tribunal. The IPT is…
Liberty and Others v GCHQ and Others was a case combining various complaints made by privacy groups including Liberty, Amnesty International, Privacy International and others, heard by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. The complainants alleged that the interception activities of various UK bodies including GCHQ and the Home Office contravened Articles 8, 10 and…
The Telecommunications Act 1984, an Act of Parliament, gives potentially wide-reaching power to the Secretary of State in relation to communications networks. Section 94: Directions in the interests of national security etc. (1) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with a person to whom this section applies, give to…
The Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) provides the core legal basis for the surveillance activities of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). [1] As detailed in the Act, GCHQ’s first statutory function is “to monitor or interfere with electromagnetic, acoustic and other emissions and any equipment producing such emissions and to obtain and…
The Human Rights Act 1998, an Act of Parliament, incorporates the rights set down in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. Specifically, it requires that public authorities act in accordance with the rights in Articles 2-12 and 14 of the Convention, Articles 1-3 of the First Protocol, and…
The UK is a party to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), a treaty of the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights, which hears individual petitions against rights violations, can declare UK law incompatible with the Convention, which usually leads to parliamentary…
