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UK Parliament

Government and law enforcement agencies give evidence to Committee

27 November 2015

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On Monday 30 November, the Joint Committee on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill takes evidence from Government and law enforcement agencies on the draft Bill. The draft Bill would provide a framework for the use of investigatory powers by law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies, as well as other public authorities.

Witnesses

Monday 30 November, Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster

At 4.15pm:

  • Home Office and Foreign Office officials

At 5.15pm:

  • Simon York, Director of the Fraud Investigation Service
  • Keith Bristow, Director General, National Crime Agency
  • Chris Farrimond, Deputy Director Intelligence Collection, National Crime Agency
  • Richard Berry, Assistant Chief Constable, National Police Chiefs' Council

Possible questions

Questions in the first session include:

  • What has been the impact of the Digital Rights Ireland case and the Court of Appeal decision in the Davis case on the powers and the wording of the draft Bill?
  • How does the Government define judicial review principles for the purposes of the Bill? How does a review on judicial review principle differ from a review on the merits of the application?
  • What value does communications data have for law enforcement and the intelligence agencies? Is it more or less valuable than the content of communications themselves?
  • What steps will be taken to ensure that retained data is held securely? How feasible is it to hold data on this scale in a way that prevents authorised access?
  • The draft Bill may require a communications service provider to remove any "electronic protection" applied to communications or data. Does this mean removing encryption, and what are the implications of this for services that provide end-to-end encryption?
  • Are the Government confident that the resourcing, appointment and dismissal structure for the Judicial Commissioners is sufficient to ensure their independence?

In the second session questions include:

  • Is accessing Internet Connection Records essential for the purposes of IP resolution and identifying of persons of interest?
  • What is the operational justification for asking Communications Service Providers to retain 12 months of communications data and Internet Connection Records?
  • What is the justification for law enforcement organisations having the power to undertake equipment interference?

Further information

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