Interception of communications as evidence
This written ministerial statement was laid in the House of Commons on 26 January 2011 by Theresa May and in the House of Lords by Baroness…
This written ministerial statement was laid in the House of Commons on 26 January 2011 by Theresa May, and in the House of Lords by Baroness Neville-Jones.
The lawful interception of communications is a vital tool for tackling the threat posed by terrorism and other serious crime. The coalition government is committed to building on this by seeking to find a practical way to allow the use of intercept evidence in court.
The issues are complex. Because of this a first step has been to review previous analysis, including that in the Privy Council review (Cm 7324) and in ‘Intercept as Evidence a report’ (Cm 7760). Having done so, the government is now in a position to set out next steps.
As recognised in the Privy Council review the State has an overriding duty to protect the public, including from threats such as international terrorism and serious organised crime. Bringing prosecutions against and securing convictions of offenders is an important means of doing so. Equally, the effective use of intercept as intelligence already makes a vital contribution to public
protection and to national security more widely.
Therefore, the programme of work to be undertaken will focus on assessing the likely balance of advantage, cost and risk of a legally viable model for use of intercept as evidence compared to the present approach. The intention is to provide a report back to Parliament during the summer.
Recent work on intercept as evidence has benefited significantly from the experience of the Advisory Group of Privy Counsellors, comprising the Right Honourable Sir John Chilcot, the Right Honourable and noble Lord Archer of Sandwell, my noble friend, the Right Honourable Lord Howard of Lympne and the Right Honourable Sir Alan Beith MP. I am pleased to be able to confirm that the members of the advisory group have, at my request and that of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, agreed to continue to provide assistance and oversight.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Date: Wed Jan 26 13:49:02 GMT 2011