Notifications of other interceptions

26 .— (1) Where—

(a) for the purpose of a criminal investigation the Minister has given an authorisation of an interception under section 2 of the Act of 1993,

(b) the telecommunications address of the person specified in the authorisation is being used on the territory of a member state, and

(c) technical assistance from the member state is not required to carry out the interception,

the Minister shall inform the competent authority in the member state of the authorisation—

(i) before the interception, if the Minister is then aware that the person is present on that territory, or

(ii) in any other case, immediately after the Minister becomes so aware.

(2) The notification shall include the following information:

(a) confirmation that authorisation of an interception has been given by warrant under section 2 of the Act of 1993 in connection with a criminal investigation;

(b) details sufficient to identify the subject of the interception;

(c) an indication of the criminal conduct under investigation; and

(d) the expected duration of the interception.

(3) The Minister shall comply with any condition, requirement or request imposed or made by the competent authority in relation to the interception pursuant to Article 20.4 of the 2000 Convention.

(4) Pending a decision by the competent authority on whether to consent to the interception or to its continuance—

(a) any interception made may be continued, but

(b) material intercepted may not be used unless—

(i) otherwise agreed between the Minister and the competent authority, or

(ii) in connection with taking urgent measures to prevent an immediate and serious threat to public security (including measures in respect of any serious offence), in which case the Minister shall inform the competent authority of any such use and the reasons justifying it.

(5) In subsection (4)(b)(ii), “serious offence” means an offence specified in the Schedule to the Bail Act 1997 for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be punished by a term of imprisonment for a term of 5 years or by a more severe penalty.

(6) If so requested by the competent authority, the Minister shall supply it with a summary of the facts of the case and any further information necessary to enable it to decide whether an interception would be authorised by it in similar circumstances.

(7) Subsection (6) is without prejudice to subsection (4), unless otherwise agreed between the Minister and the competent authority.

(8) Where the Minister is of opinion that the information to be provided under subsection (2) is of a particularly sensitive nature, the information may, with the agreement of the competent authority concerned, be transmitted to it through a specific person or body.

(9) This section does not apply in relation to a member state which has declared in accordance with the 2000 Convention that it is not necessary to provide it with information on interceptions as envisaged in Article 20 of that Convention.

27 .— (1) This section applies where—

(a) the competent authority in a member state has authorised an interception,

(b) the telecommunications address of the person specified in the authorisation is being used on the territory of the State,

(c) technical assistance from the State is not required to carry out the interception, and

(d) the competent authority notifies the Minister accordingly in accordance with Article 20 of the 2000 Convention.

(2) Where this section applies, the Minister, without delay and at the latest within a period specified in subsection (7), shall proceed in accordance with subsection (3) or subsections (4) and (5), as appropriate.

(3) If an authorisation would be given under section 2 of the Act of 1993 in similar circumstances, the Minister shall authorise the interception to be carried out or continued.

(4) If—

(a) an authorisation under the said section 2 would not be given,

(b) section 3 applies, or

(c) the offence concerned is a political offence or revenue offence,

the Minister shall require that the interception not be carried out or be terminated and give the reasons for so requiring in writing.

(5) Where subsection (4) applies, the Minister shall require that any material already intercepted while the telecommunications address was being used in the State may not be used or may be used only under specified conditions, the justification for which shall be communicated by the Minister to the competent authority in writing.

(6) The Minister may request the competent authority to supply a summary of the facts of the case and any further information necessary to enable him or her to decide whether an authorisation would be given under section 2 of the Act of 1993 in similar circumstances.

(7) The following period is specified for the purposes of subsection (2):

(a) a period not exceeding 96 hours; or

(b) where it is necessary to determine whether an authorisation under section 2 of the Act of 1993 would be given in similar circumstances, a period not exceeding in total 12 days.

(8) Where paragraph (b) of subsection (7)> applies, the Minister shall communicate in writing to the competent authority the conditions which justify the request for an extension of the period mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection.

(9) Information provided under this section by the competent authority is deemed to be official information for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1963 .