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

written submissions received. It also builds upon the extensive work
conducted by the previous reviews, and in particular on the large corpus of
legal advice obtained by those reviews. In addition, we have also obtained
independent legal advice on those models we considered still to be viable, as
set out in Chapter VIII. A number of bodies outside Government have also
recently produced reports on this issue, which have been of considerable
interest and help to this Review. 1
12. We recognise the serious, creative efforts made over the years, to find
a solution, so far without success. It has not been a case of rigid, unthinking
resistance to change. However, as the issue has been debated at great
length over so many years, most of those engaged in the debate have arrived
at firm, but opposing, conclusions already. Our approach has been to re-open
the arguments, where possible with participants from both standpoints, and
review from scratch both the assertions, and the analyses, made on both
sides.
13. Since one of the most telling arguments in favour of change is the
positive experience of so many other countries, we have devoted much time
to reviewing what actually happens in a selection of other countries. We have
visited, received submissions from or met individuals from twelve different
countries. We have considered carefully the degree to which their
experiences can inform the UK approach.
14. The telecommunications industry is evolving very rapidly, and
interception has to react to that. We have therefore also considered at some
length the particularly complex implications of the new technology, and its
potential impact on the benefits, costs and risks of any intercept as evidence
regime.
1 See Bibliography at Annex D
Chapter I
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