Jack Straw' View

[David Swarbrick]

In message <200007031855.TAA08270@clw.cs.man.ac.uk>, Charles Lindsey
<chl@clw.cs.man.ac.uk> writes
>       On Mon, 03 Jul 2000 18:40:44 +0100
>       Donald Ramsbottom <donald@ramsbottom.co.uk> said...
>
>
>> Sorry Guys, I have not been keeping up with this thread, (bloody real world
>> keeps intruding), what was the question in a nutshell and I will see whether
>> I can help. Sorry to be a pain.
>
>Essentially, please look at the following piece of Hansard, and tell
>ukcrypto what it is all about.
>

'Traditionally' the results of intercepts have not been available to the
prosecution as evidence. It follows from the ideas that
1 It might not be admitted as unfair anyway, and
2 It leaves too many questions open to a defence about how the
information was gathered, which the prosecution would not want to
answer.

An unanswered (to me) question. Is such material disclosable to the
defence?

He is saying that this has, traditionally, caused difficulties. The
whole point about the need to update IOCA, was that it had become ragged
at the edges. This is a process of justification under HRA by
clarification. Thus the new definition.

Whilst this applies to the results of interception of communications,
there is no reason, as the law stands, why this should apply the
products of traffic analysis and obliged decryption. Neither is seen to
be inherently unfair, and neither invites too close a questioning of
Intelligence service practices.



>
>("(4A) For the purposes of this Act detecting crime shall be taken to include-- 
>   (a) establishing by whom, for what purpose, by what means and
>   generally in what circumstances any crime was committed; and 
>   (b) the apprehension of the person by whom any crime was committed; 
>and any reference in this Act to preventing or detecting serious crime
>shall be construed accordingly, except that, in Chapter I of Part I, it
>shall not include a reference to gathering evidence for use in any legal
>proceedings.").


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David Swarbrick, Solicitor. Computer and Internet Law and Contracts
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