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The Interception of Communications Commissioner plays a vital role in scrutinising aspects of the Security Service's work. His task is to keep under review the issue of warrants for the interception of communications. He also reviews the adequacy of arrangements for ensuring the product of interception is properly handled.
He does this by reviewing the warrant applications that the intercepting agencies have made to the Secretary of State, in order to make sure that the Secretary of State was right to sign the warrants. He also visits the Security Service and other agencies to examine his selection of interception warrants with the officers responsible for the relevant investigations.
The Commissioner's role is defined by statute under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (new window) (RIPA). Section 57 of the Act provides for the Prime Minister to appoint the Commissioner, who must hold or have held high judicial office within the meaning of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. He or she is appointed for a period of three years with the possibility of re-appointment.
The law requires the Security Service to provide the Commissioner with any documents or information he needs to carry out his functions. The Commissioner submits an annual report to the Prime Minister which is subsequently laid before Parliament and published. He includes in this report a review of the interception processes and a summary of the value of the intercepts. He also provides, in a closed annex which is not published, accounts of the operational successes achieved as a result of the interception warrants he has reviewed.
The Commissioner also oversees our arrangements for access to communications data under Part 1, Chapter II of RIPA.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Kennedy is the current Interception of Communications Commissioner. He served as a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, from 1983 to 1992. He was Presiding Judge of the North Eastern Circuit from 1985 to 1989. He served as Lord Justice of Appeal from 1992 to 2005 and also as Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division from 1997 to 2002. Appointed from 11 April 2006, he will serve as Interception of Communications Commissioner until 10 April 2009.
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