Judicial Oversight
Key points
- Two senior judges oversee our activities as independent commissioners.
- Investigatory Powers Tribunal separately considers complaints about the work of the UK intelligence services.
Two independent Commissioners oversee the activities of the Security Service and a number of other public bodies, including the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
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The Commissioners were appointed following the enactment of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), which repealed the Interception of Communications Act 1985 (IOCA). The post of IOCA Commissioner was abolished and replaced with a new Interception of Communications Commissioner.
RIPA also replaced the Commissioners established under the Security Service Act 1989 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994 with a single combined Intelligence Services Commissioner.
In addition, an Investigatory Powers Tribunal was established to consider complaints relating to the activities covered by the Act.
Under Sections 57 and 59 of RIPA, the Prime Minister has the power to appoint these Commissioners, who must be persons who hold or have held high judicial office within the meaning of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. The Commissioners are appointed for a period of three years with the possibility of re-appointment.
The two Commissioners each submit separate annual reports to the Prime Minister covering their activities over the past year. The Prime Minister decides how much of the reports should be excluded from publication on the grounds that it is prejudicial to national security, to the prevention or detection of serious crime, to the economic well-being of the United Kingdom, or to the continued discharge of the functions of public bodies subject to the Commissioners' review.
The Commissioners have adopted a practice of writing their reports in two parts, with a confidential annex containing matters which in their view should not be published.
The publishable portions of the reports are presented to the UK Parliament by the Prime Minister and to the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Ministers. They are then issued as publications of the House of Commons, usually in the autumn of each year.
