Privy Council Review of intercept as evidence

Download or read book Privy Council Review of intercept as evidence written by John Sir Chilcot and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-02-06 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The creation of this Privy Council Review was announced on 25 July 2007 "to advise on whether a regime to allow the use of intercepted material in court can be devised that facilitates bringing cases to trial while meeting the overriding imperative to safeguard national security". All bodies and individuals that met with or provided evidence to the Review were in favour in principle of intercept as evidence. But there were very different views as to whether national security could be safeguarded effectively. The Review endorses the principles that: there is an overriding imperative to safeguard national security; all trials must be (and be seen to be) procedurally fair; the State should wherever possible prosecute those it believes are involved in terrorism or other serious crimes; in any criminal prosecution the best available evidence should be made available in court. The report examines: current use of intercept; potential use and benefit of intercept as evidence; risks; resource implications; new communications technology; relevance of experiences of other countries; legal models. The Review concludes that intercept as evidence should be introduced. It believes that it would be possible to provide for the use of intercept as evidence in criminal trials in England and Wales by developing a robust legal model, based in statute and compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. A model - PII Plus (PII = Public Interest Immunity) - is suggested as the basis, and the Review outlines further preparatory work and confidence-building measures necessary to develop a detailed regime.