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

ANNEX A – WAY OF WORKING
We have carried forward this Review on Privy Council terms throughout. We
have therefore invited all interested parties to meet us and/or to provide
written submissions at whatever level of sensitivity they deem appropriate.
The meetings we had and the submissions we received are listed at Annexes
B and C respectively. We visited France and the Netherlands for discussions,
and had videoconferences with representatives of the Australian and US
governments.
We have had access to all the previous studies carried out within
Government, and in particular to the extensive legal advice that supported
them. We additionally sought Counsel’s advice ourselves, independently of
that previously provided to Government.
We agreed not to publish the representations and submissions made to us.
They have of course been the major influence on this Report and on the
conclusions it reaches. Where we believe it helpful we have drawn material
for this Report from the evidence offered to us, with the originators’
agreement. The conclusions of the Report are by contrast those of the
Review Members alone, and have not been cleared in advance with anyone
outside the Review.
We are grateful to all those who agreed to meet us, or to provide input in
writing, for the efforts they had without exception taken to inform us of the
issues, and for providing us with their frank views. Without this help we would
not have been able to carry out this Review.
The overall cost of the Review has been £115000.
Annex A
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