Investigatory Powers Act 2016

116 Duration of warrants U.K.

(1) A warrant issued under this Part ceases to have effect at the end of the relevant period (see subsection (2)), unless—

(a) it is renewed before the end of that period (see section 117), or

(b) it is cancelled or otherwise ceases to have effect before the end of that period (see sections 109 and 125).

(2) In this section, “the relevant period”—

(a) in the case of an urgent warrant which has not been renewed, means the period ending with the [F1 fifth] [F1 12th] working day after the day on which the warrant was issued;

(b) in any other case, means the period of 6 months beginning with—

(i) the day on which the warrant was issued, or

(ii) in the case of a warrant which has been renewed, the day after the day at the end of which the warrant would have ceased to have effect if it had not been renewed.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), a warrant is an “urgent warrant” if—

(a) the warrant was issued without the approval of a Judicial Commissioner, and

(b) the person who decided to issue the warrant considered that there was an urgent need to issue it.

Textual Amendments

F1 Word in s. 116(2)(a) substituted (temp.) (27.3.2020) by virtue of The Investigatory Powers (Temporary Judicial Commissioners and Modification of Time Limits) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/360), regs. 1(2), 4(b) (with reg. 5)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 116 in force at 27.6.2018 by S.I. 2018/652, reg. 9(f)