Privy Council Review of intercept as evidence: report - Official ...

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support evidential use, and cooperation with intelligence agencies and with Communications Service Providers made harder. It is on that balance of advantage that the Review bases its conclusions. Chapter II 14
CHAPTER III - POTENTIAL USE AND BENEFIT OF INTERCEPT AS EVIDENCE PRINCIPLES 48. In principle every court should have available to it the best evidence available which will determine whether the accused is guilty or not. The accused’s own words, intercepted and played to the court, can obviously be extremely powerful evidence. In particular, they can give the jury an insight into his intentions and state of mind at the time the alleged crime was being committed, an area where other direct evidence may be hard to find. The evidence provided by interception will be especially well-suited to proving charges of conspiracy, where the nub of the offence lies in what a group of individuals say one to another. We agree with the principle that the best evidence should be made available to the court, unless there are compelling reasons why a particular class of evidence should not be used. 49. We have also heard powerful evidence that the state should manage terrorism through strict use of normal legal process. That implies prosecuting and convicting terrorists wherever possible; other quasi-judicial measures, falling short of prosecutions, should ideally have no place. More generally better prosecutions are needed across the board, for criminals as well as terrorists. Therefore it is the Government’s job to ensure that all possible evidence can be used to ensure that the guilty are brought to trial and convicted. If that is done, the argument goes on, the need for exceptional measures such as Control Orders and lengthy pre-charge detention will be significantly reduced or even disappear, and public confidence in the criminal justice system will be maintained. EFFECTS ON TRIALS 50. There is strong evidence from experience abroad that the availability of intercept as evidence can significantly influence the course of a trial. Some defendants, confronted with recordings of their own words, may well realise that their case is hopeless, and decide to plead guilty. They may even choose to provide active assistance to the prosecution, for example by giving evidence themselves against their criminal bosses and so enabling the conviction of the latter, or by providing convincing evidence of the real meaning of suspicious conversations in which they took part. It was by using intercept in these ways that the US authorities – much helped by the ability to ‘plea bargain’ there – have recently been able, for the first time, to convict the heads of all 5 New York mafia families (see Chapter VII). It is of course not possible simply to transfer unchanged to the UK methods that are used successfully in other jurisdictions, where the legal background is different, but the evidence of success there cannot be ignored. 51. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) expects a similar effect if intercept as evidence is introduced in the UK. It foresees savings in court time through more early guilty pleas, and fewer abortive trials. The Serious Chapter III 15
Page 1 and 2: PRIVY COUNCIL REVIEW OF INTERCEPT A
Page 3 and 4: Crown Copyright 2008 The text in th
Page 5 and 6: PRIVY COUNCIL REVIEW OF INTERCEPT A
Page 7 and 8: public, as at least key parts of it
Page 9 and 10: written submissions received. It al
Page 11 and 12: are included in a schedule, which c
Page 13 and 14: independent facilities, however the
Page 15: - often in real time - and those co
Page 19 and 20: sensitivity or the risk to other, m
Page 21 and 22: 66. The existence of an official ca
Page 23 and 24: 81. We have been told that the use
Page 25 and 26: intercept as evidence would bring.
Page 27 and 28: CHAPTER V - RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS I
Page 29 and 30: CHAPTER VI - NEW COMMUNICATIONS TEC
Page 31 and 32: telephone is being set up, any part
Page 33 and 34: CHAPTER VII - RELEVANCE OF EXPERIEN
Page 35 and 36: security service 9 ). Intercept app
Page 37 and 38: 149. Spain provides another example
Page 39 and 40: 159. Although over 90% of offences
Page 41 and 42: Procedures Act 1980 (CIPA). This al
Page 43 and 44: 182. However, even with these examp
Page 45 and 46: o any ‘exculpatory material’ -
Page 47 and 48: decide whether disclosure was neede
Page 49 and 50: evidence, and the failure of that a
Page 51 and 52: The intercepting agency shall decid
Page 53 and 54: considered for cases in the civil c
Page 55 and 56: ANNEX B - LIST OF WITNESSES Attorne
Page 57 and 58: ANNEX C - LIST OF WRITTEN SUBMISSIO
Page 59 and 60: ANNEX D - BIBLIOGRAPHY Regulation o
Page 61 and 62: CSP Communications Service Provider
Page 63 and 64: Lawful Interception The interceptio
Page 65 and 66: SOCA Serious Organised Crime Agency
Page 67:
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