FOIA request to the Interception of Communications Commissioner regarding the Wilson Doctrine

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We have decided to send a Freedom of Information Act request to Sir Swinton Thomas, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, regarding the "Wilson Doctrine", the apparent immunity of Members of Parliament from having their telephone calls intercepted by the police or intelligence services.

We were promted to do this after reading the frontpage news story in the Independent on Sunday on January 15th 2006 "MI5 will get new powers to bug MPs"

The Prime Ministerial Statement in Hansard of the 15th December 2005 on the Wilson Doctrine which states:

"Wilson Doctrine

The Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair): The Government have received advice from the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir. Swinton Thomas, on the possible implications for the Wilson Doctrine of the regulatory framework for the interception of communications, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The Government are considering that advice. I shall inform Parliament of the outcome at the earliest opportunity. "

Since the office of Information of Communications Commissioner is established by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 section 57, and is paid for by the public purse, it must be a Public Body inder the Freedom of Information Act. However, since this office is independnet of the Home Office or any other Central Government Department, some of the exemptions which these Departments use to
hide information from the public may not be applicable.

Our letter:

The Right Honourable Sir Swinton Thomas, The Interception of Communications Commissioner, c/o The Home Office, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

15th January 2006

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request for Information

Dear Sir Swinton,

I am writing to you as the Information of Communications Commissioner, with a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, following the frontpage report in todays Independent on Sunday newspaper:

"MI5 will get new powers to bug MPs"
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article338691.ece

and the Prime Ministerial Statement in Hansard of the 15th December 2005 on the Wilson Doctrine

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm051215/wmstext/51215m04.htm#51215m04.html_spmin3

which states:

"The Government have received advice from the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir. Swinton Thomas, on the possible implications for the Wilson Doctrine of the regulatory framework for the interception of communications, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000."

Questions:

1) Since there is no mention of the Wilson Doctrine in the "Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner for 2004 " , submitted in July 2005, does this mean that there have been requests for the Electronic Interception of the phones or emails or other electronic communications, or for details of the Communications Traffic Data of Members of Parliament in Westminster, between July and December ?

a) If so, how many requests ?

b) If so, were any of them granted ?

2) Has the Wilson Doctrine been updated over the years to apply
Internet activity as well as to Telephone calls ?

3) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to Communications Traffic Data ?

4) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to the Interception of Postal Services ?

5) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to Members of the Scottish Parliament ?

6) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to Members of the Welsh Assembly ?

7) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly ?

8) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament ?

9) Does the Wilson Doctrine also apply to non-UK Members of the European Parliament ?

10) Who else is effectively exempt from the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, under the Wilson Doctrine, or similar custom and practice e.g.
a) The Royal Family ?
b) High Court or other Senior Judges ?
c) Members of the House of Lords ?

11) If the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Part III Investigation of Electronic Data Protected by Encryption etc. is brought into force, will the Wilson Doctrine apply to the surrender of Encryption Keys or Plaintext ?

Please provide the requested information, ideally by publishing it on your public world wide website (or on the Home Office website), or alternatively by email.

In the unlikely event that this information is not already available in a standard electronic format, then please explain the reasons why, when you provide the information in another format.

If you are proposing to make a charge for providing the information requested, please provide full details in advance, together with an explanation of any proposed charge.

If you decide to withhold any of the information requested you should clearly explain why you have done so in your response, by reference to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 legislation.

If your decision to withhold is based upon an evaluation of the public interest, then you should clearly explain which public interests you have considered, and why you have decided that the public interest in maintaining the exception(s) outweighs the public interest in releasing the information.

I look forward to receiving the information requested as soon as possible, and in any event within the statutory 20 working days of receipt. i.e. by Tuesday 14th February 2006.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

If you require any clarification of this request please contact me as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

XXX

2 TrackBacks

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This United Kingdom based blog has been spawned from Spy Blog, and is meant to provide a place to track our Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests to United Kingdom Government and other Public Authorities.

If you have suggestions for other FOIA requests,  bearing in mind the large list of exemptions, then email them to us, or use the comments facility on this blog, and we will see  what we can do, without you yourself having to come under the direct scrutiny of  "Sir Humphrey Appleby" or his minions.

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