Draft Investigatory Powers Bill call for evidence published
30 November 2015
The new Joint Committee on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill has published its call for evidence.
- Joint Committee on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill - call for evidence
- Draft Investigatory Powers Bill (Cm 9152)
- Guidance on written submissions
- Contact the Committee
The Committee invites written evidence to be received by 21 December 2015. The Committee is working to a tight deadline and will report in February 2016.
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill
The Draft Investigatory Powers 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. The draft Bill includes provisions for the interception of communications, the retention and acquisition of communications data, the use of equipment interference, and the acquisition of bulk data for analysis. It will repeal and replace the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA), which expires at the end of next year. It will also repeal and replace part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).
Areas of interest
Some of the questions the Committee are inviting evidence on include:
- To what extent is it necessary for the security and intelligence services and law enforcement to have access to investigatory powers such as those contained in the draft Bill?
- Are there sufficient operational justifications for undertaking targeted and bulk interception, and are the proposed authorisation processes for such interception activities appropriate and workable?
- Should the security and intelligence services have access to powers to undertake targeted and bulk equipment interference? Should law enforcement also have access to such powers?
Chair's comment
Lord Murphy of Torfaen, Chairman of the new Joint Committee, said:
"This is an extremely important draft Bill, and the necessity of ensuring that our security services and law enforcement agencies have appropriate tools to combat terrorism and serious crime has never been more apparent. This Committee will be examining whether the draft Bill provides for the correct powers and whether a compelling operational case can be made for all those powers. It will also scrutinise the proposed authorisation and oversight regimes to ensure that these powers will be properly used.
"The Committee's conclusions will be dependent on the quality of evidence it receives, so it would very much like to hear from anyone with an interest in these areas."
Further information
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